Breaking the Gilded Cage
by CreatureMan88
Summary: For a group of pokémon living in a constricted world, life had always been relatively well. But when they acquire a book on the leagues of the Legendary Pokémon, their world gets opened up to new possibilities.
1. Chapter 1: Getting Acquainted

This is a work of fiction. Any pokémon or anything pokémon related belongs to GameFreak and I do not intend to make a profit off this story.

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The day began like any other. Sun rising over the horizon and casting its radiant glow upon the large grassy expanse many have come to know as the Brilliant Meadow and brilliant it was. Grass growing up to half a meter in height and extending as far as the eye could see. Trees growing healthily and en masse, sprouting flowers both common and rare. Small pokémon scurrying along joyfully while birds sang through the sky.

The eye-catch, however, was the path that branched off the meadow, flanked by a network of trees whose branches criss-crossed at the top. Beautiful flowers grew at the base of the trees the further along the path went, feet turning into meters which further turned into kilometers. The long road was currently inhabited by a Togekiss with two Togetic trailing behind it and each one of them were carrying some manner of parcel that hanged from their mouths. As they neared the end of the path, they were greeted by a mysterious but beckoning light. One they see every day of their lives and have long since gotten used to it.

Upon making it to the other side of the light, they were greeted with a different scene altogether. It was a settlement inhabited by a wide array of fairy type pokémon. From their vintage, they could view it in its entirety.

It appeared to be a large circular world, the waters of the ocean resting against its cliff side and extending far beyond the horizon. Its entire inner circumference lined with stone constructs, some of them were the homes of pokémon while others could be considered business set ups. In the center of the land was a plaza where many fairy type pokémon would get together in all kinds of activities. A little to the north of the plaza was a large semicircular building that acted as a training hold which groomed both the current and future generations of the realm's defenders. To the south of the plaza was another semi-circular construct, this one being a facility that educated the young minds of the realm. To the east and west, close to the plaza, were portable stands manned by various pokémon that served as convenience shops that sold all kinds of different things. They seemed to be popular, considering the crowds that were gathered there. The look was completed by the vibrant colors and grassy terrain. Apart from the marked paths there wasn't a single spot not decorated by trees, flowers or even simple grass. Everything flourished. This was their home. This was the Fairy Realm.

After taking in the view, the Togekiss and her Togetic flew down towards their destination; a building north-east of the plaza.

Reaching the ground level and flying through the open doorway, the building revealed itself to be a library. Pokémon were going back and forth between shelves and tables, all of them handling books. Some were workers with the others being visitors. The building was about four meters up to the roof. Bookshelves crammed with all sorts of reading material lined the side and rear walls and tables with corresponding chairs were set up around the room for pokémon to do their reading on.

The Togekiss stopped and hovered in front of a desk that was immediately adjacent to the entrance, now smiling at the librarian, a Floette with a blue flower, that smiled back at her.

"Jubilee." The Floette greeted her, "I see you're back from your errand. I trust things went well?"

The Togekiss now identified as 'Jubilee' nodded her head and dropped her parcel onto the desk, the other two Togetic doing the same. "The trip went off without a hitch. Here are the books you ordered, Miss Flora."

The Floette reached over and unwrapped the packages, revealing three new books, one of them catching Jubilee's eye.

"'History of the Legendary Pantheon'? I didn't think there were pokémon here interesting in reading such a thing."

Flora just gave the Togekiss another smile. "Neither did I actually. I had it specially ordered for one of my more frequent guests. Had an immediate interest in reading it from the moment I told her about it. Always reading, that one. Almost every time I see her. Sometimes she has me order books that were not originally written here, this being one of them." Flora motioned for two Spritzee to take the other two books away for shelving.

"And that's where we come in." Jubilee happily motioned to herself and the two Togetic currently with her. There were actually others. Many others in fact, though a large party wasn't needed for such a simple operation. With her Togetic, Jubilee ran a trade system between the Fairy Realm and the Pokémon Settlement located in the centre of the Pokémon World where all kinds of commerce was carried out. Whenever someone wanted something, they would pay her to make a requisition at the Pokémon Settlement and in a few days the order would come through. They did delivery too. It was a simple system that worked well.

"That's right and your help is greatly appreciated." Seriously, if Jubilee and her flock weren't there to get things done the way they do, things would have been gotten done at a rather slow rate. She had everyone's thanks.

"Think nothing of it. It is my job, after all." Funny, she wasn't modest a second ago... "So, if I may ask, who is the bookworm interested in the lore of legendary pokémon?"

The librarian smiled brightly and motioned behind Jubilee, "There she is now."

Jubilee and her company turned around to see a Kirlia walking into the library with a small bag draped over her left shoulder and hanging by her right hip. There were two things that separated her from other Kirlia, though. One was the cute red ribbon that was wrapped neatly around her left horn. The other more obvious one was her different coloration. She had blue legs, blue hair and had amber eyes and horns. She was what many would call a 'shiny' pokémon. The actual term was 'alternate colored' but no one calls it that.

The Kirlia stopped and bowed respectfully to the Togekiss and Floette. "Good morning, Miss Jubilee and Miss Flora." She spoke with a demure voice.

"Good morning Angel." The addressed pokémon chorused. "Feeling well this morning?" Jubilee continued.

"Fine, thank you." She replied before addressing Flora directly. "Um... Was the book I ordered able to come through?" She spoke with a reserved tone.

"Right here." Flora held up the brand new copy of 'History of the Legendary Pantheon'.

Upon seeing the book, the Kirlia's mood immediately brightened and she begun spinning around. "Yes, yes! That's it!" Angel quickly reached into her bag and pulled out a few colored shards. Valuable stones that could be used as currency. Angel then approached the desk and paid the borrowing fee for the week. "Thank you, Miss Flora!" Book now in hand, the Kirlia turned to make her leave before suddenly remembering something.

"Oh! Also many thanks to you, Miss Jubilee."

"You are most welcome, Angel. Please give my regards to your mother." The Togekiss replied with a smile. Angel spun around one last time and gave her a bright smile of her own before running out of the library, eager to begin reading her book.

Now just the four of them once again, Flora spoke, "I don't think I can recall anyone else that gets so excited over a book the way she does. It's good to know she keeps herself so educated."

"Indeed." Jubilee replied, still amused by the young Kirlia's antics. Motioning to her companions, she prepared to take her leave. "Be seeing you, Flora. Don't be shy to ask if you need anything else from us."

"Will do." Flora waved her goodbye.

Jubilee nodded back before exiting through the door and into the skies of the Fairy Realm, her small convoy right behind her.

With all the business over and done with, the Single Bloom Pokémon left her desk and went deeper into the library to help her colleagues, humming a tune along the way.

Angel was walking through the plaza, her new book now held firmly against her chest. She felt so happy. Last time she felt this happy was when she had gotten a new book last month. She loved books, if it wasn't already so obviously apparent. What she did not like were crowds. They always made her nervous or paranoid. Like someone was going to attack or steal something from her, no matter how far-fetched that sounded which is why she was actively looking for a more secluded place to do her reading.

It had been like that for as long as she can remember. When she wasn't making herself busy, she was usually found in her home under the care of her mother. A Gardevior and shiny just like her. Because of her anti-social nature, she chose to distance herself from other pokémon. Her mother appeared to be fine with that, although she wished she could open herself up a bit more and as a result chose to home-school Angel. She learned all manners of things directly from her mother. From simple knowledge all the way to battle tactics, her mother taught her and taught her well. Even though she lived sort of sheltered, she had a blessed life with her family and that's what mattered to her most.

Branching off the network of paths, she came across formation of flat rocks thirty centimiters high that were obscured by all the trees that grew in the realm. The trees provided her with shade while the rocks offered her a seat for her to rest on. Sometimes she overlooked the rocks and sat down on the spongy grass, whichever worked. This was her 'reading spot' or so she liked to call it.

Sighing with content, Angel approached one of the rocks and sat daintily upon it while placing her bag on the grass. Then she opened up the educational material and begun to read from it...

"Angel!"

"Ah!" Well she would have liked to... It appears one of her friends had found her. "Sylvia... You startled me." The shaken Kirlia lowered her head and put a hand over her rapidly beating chest.

"Did I? Sorry about that." Looking back up, Angel was greeted by the happy face of one of her friends; Sylvia. A Sylveon. She approached Angel while holding a bouquet of flowers in her ribbon-like feelers. She could guess what they were for.

"Tribute?" Angel asked, referring to the flowers.

"That's right! Aren't they amazing?" The Sylveon happily replied and brought the bouquet towards Angel. "Here. Take a whiff."

Shrugging, Angel complied, taking a long smell of the flowers, finding them to her liking. "Wow. What are these?"

Looking down at the white and pink colored flowers, Sylvia tried to recall what they were called. "Hmmm... I bought them from Miss Fleur. Said they were orc-kids or something like that."

"You mean orchids?"

"Ah yes, that's what they're called." Sylvia sheepishly replied.

"Honestly..." Angel smiled at the Sylveon. She was one of the very few pokémon Angel was actually comfortable to be around. She was always impulsive but very friendly. Her behavior also amused Angel by a good margin. A pokémon she would gladly call her friend. Their meeting was an interesting one. Sylvia, who was an Eevee at the time just approached her as a Ralts one day and kept talking and following her around until Angel eventually got used to her and her antics, finding her company to be rather refreshing and entertaining. Well, guess it wasn't that unique of a meeting. There were friends like this everywhere.

"By the way... What do you have there? New book?"

"Newest book." Angel held up the reading material high enough for Sylvia to read the title.

"'Legendary Pantheon', huh?" Sylvia sat in front of her friend. "I never thought such a thing could be considered as something desirable. We aren't allowed to leave our realm so learning about the happenings of the outside world never really crossed my mind."

"Which is why I like to read on stuff like this. I'd love to know what goes on beyond our border and this is the only way I can do it." Angel opened up the first page, skipping the head notes and getting to the good stuff. "May I?"

"Well I can't say I'm not curious." Sylvia laid on her stomach in a more comfortable position. "Read away."

"Alright... Mm-hmm... According to the table of contents, the first few pages appear to just be a summary of the pantheon while the later chapters go into more detail about the legendary pokémon. Let's start simple, shall we?" Sylvia nodded and with that, Angel begun reading.

"Herein lies the current Pantheon of the known Legendary Pokémon. More in depth descriptions to follow in future chapters:

Arceus - The creator of the pantheon and all pokémon. He keeps peace between Dialga and Palkia and banished Giratina to the Reverse World for its violent tendencies.

Mew - Holds no seat. Denied a part of the pantheon in favor of freedom. No one knows its whereabouts... Sounds like we have a rebel on our hands." Angel commented before continuing.

"Lugia - Co-Ruler of flying types alongside Ho-Oh. Takes up residence somewhere in the ocean and commands the elemental birds; Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres.

Ho-Oh - Co-Ruler of flying types alongside Lugia. Rules the skies and commands the legendary beasts; Entei, Suicune and Raikou.

Celebi - Co-Rules alongside Shaymin and acts as a bridge between the grass types and psychic types. Lives in the large expanding meadows and forests of the realm of the grass types.

Groudon - Expanded the reach of the lands in order to accommodate rock and ground type pokémon and is currently in a state of deep slumber beyond the Earth Realm.

Kyogre - Expanded the reach of the ocean in order to accommodate water type pokémon and is currently in a state of deep slumber beyond the Water Realm.

Regirock, Regice & Registeel - Three elemental golems and protectors of the realm of normal types and under the command of Regigigas.

Jirachi - The long slumbering and coveted deity of the extremely durable steel types. Its time of awakening is unknown. It gets its protection from the steel types' great wall and formidable army. Trying to force a meeting with it is largely considered suicide.

Latias & Latios - Enforcers and protectors of the floating city of psychic types. They hold a great bond with one another and do everything in their power to keep each other, as well as their city, safe.

Rayquaza - Ruler of the great land of dragons. Though it holds jurisdiction over dragons, it prefers to live in the ozone layer and keep an eye on things from its perch. Said to occasionally visit the Sky Pillar.

Diagla & Palkia - Living in their respective dimensions of time and space, Dialga keeps time flowing while Palkia keeps space stable. Arceus himself keeps a watchful eye on them, should they conflict in some manner.

Giratina - A spectral dragon representing anti-matter that was banished to the Distortion World by Arceus for its violent behavior. There is a running theory that a portal to this world lies somewhere in the lands inhabited by ghost types where spiritual energy is highest.

Uxie, Mesprit & Azelf - Three sprites that are speculated to be the key to accessing the dimensions inhabited by Dialga and Palkia. For this reason, they keep themselves hidden from other pokémon, whether friend or foe.

Heatran - A legendary fire and steel type living somewhere in the Volcanic Summit located near the Fire Realm. It currently lies dormant.

Regigigas - The great and powerful ruler of the realm of normal types, it uses its might to keep its subjects safe. It created the legendary golems; Regirock, Regice and Registeel to further enforce protection over its fellow normal types. Though inhibited by its ability, it becomes unstoppable if given enough time in battle.

Manaphy & Phione - Two mysterious water types that keep the seas safe and their waters pure. Speculations to their actual whereabouts remain open.

Darkrai - Holds no jurisdiction and isolates itself on the far away New Moon Island in order to keep its power from causing unintentional harm... How noble...

Cresselia - Because of Mew's refusal of a seat on the pantheon, Cresselia was moved from her perch on Full Moon Island by Arceus' order in order to accommodate the psychic types. Using the combined power of the psychic types she leads as well as her own, she was able to lift the entire city of the psychics right out of the ocean and turn it into a floating fortress. Because of her power to cause sweet dreams, the psychic power of her subjects remain at an optimum level thanks to their clear and positive minds. She is held in high regard and sometimes referred to as their queen... Woah, that's amazing.

Shaymin - Co-Ruler of the grass realm alongside Celebi. It mostly protects its realm from threats and keeps it pristine by absorbing toxins, purifying them within its own body and expelling it as sunlight and water. It has a second powerful form that has something to do with the Gracidea flower... Gracidea flower?" Angel looked up at her Sylveon friend for any kind of explanation who just shrugged, not having a clue either. Oh well. Story for another day...

"Zekrom - Ruler of the stormy lands of thunder and lightning. It first appeared to have some sort of misunderstanding with Reshiram but the two were able to sort things out in order to keep the relationships between fire types and electric types stable.

Reshiram - Ruler of the burning hot and volcanic realm of fire types. It first appeared to have some sort of misunderstanding with Zekrom but the two were able to sort things out in order to keep the relationships between fire types and electric types stable. Hmmm... These two sound like they have an extensive history together. Hopefully I can find out about that later...

Kyurem - Feared ruler of the deathly cold Ice Realm. It has a mysterious past and appears to have some parts missing from its body. Though no one can confirm it, there is a malicious rumor that it sometimes cannibalizes on its fellow ice types that became lost in its blizzards.

The Swords of Justice - Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion and Keldeo collectively rule over the fierce and competitive hearts of the fighting types. Though Keldeo is only their apprentice, it's still very formidable in battle. All of them have zero tolerance of pokémon that extort from the weak. They are looked upon with much admiration by the fighting types they rule over.

Meloetta - Also resides in the realm of fighting types alongside the Swords of Justice. Using her Relic Song, she can change forms to be either a beautiful singer in her Aria Form or a graceful dancer in her Pirouette Form.

Tornadus and Thundurus - Two malevolent deities that love to cause harm to the various lands for their own amusement. Because of this, Arceus anointed Landorus in order to keep them in check.

Landorus - A benevolent earth deity that brings peace to the lands by keeping Tornadus and Thunurus in check. He also brings great harvest to those that pay tribute to him.

Xerneas - A great fairy resembling a deer mostly known for its vibrant and majestic rainbow colored antlers. Using its life granting power, it granted its fairy subjects - that would be us - a beautiful forested land for them to live on and transformed into a tree in order to replenish that lost power.

Yveltal - An extremely large and destructive avian known for its glowing red and black body. Its simple appearance boosts the power of its fellow dark types. Its power to automatically drain the life of all around it when killed caused it to retreat to an uncharted island to prevent any harm it may accidentally cause its subjects.

Zygarde - An otherworldly dragon currently lurking in parts unknown... It is said that it will appear when the ecosystem falls into disarray and reveal its power. This is all that is known about it... Hmm..."

Angel sighed and placed the bookmark accordingly before closing the book. Looking up at the Sylveon, she found, to her surprise, that her friend was being completely attentive. Normally, she would be snoring right about now. Perhaps she enjoyed it as much as she herself did?

Sylvia was silent for a while before finally speaking up. "Woah... To think that there's so little we know about the world. Now I really have an interest in the outside world. It's like what else don't we know, you know? I didn't even think so many legendary pokémon even existed before now and who knows how many undocumented ones are running around." Sylvia got back up and stretched a little. "Speaking of which, that Kyoorum guy sounds like a real creep. And those two, Tornados and Thunderos or whatever they're called sound like real jerks."

"What surprised me is that the Psychic Realm is actually a floating city. Legendary pokémon sure are amazing... I really hope I'd get to see it for myself someday." Angel hugged the book to her chest in thought.

"Hold on to that dream. It may yet become a reality." Sylvia winked at her friend and picked her flowers back up, using her ribbons to fasten them against her side. "Hey. Where are your flowers? Aren't you going to the Life Tree?"

"Went there yesterday with my mom." Angel got up off her perch and crammed her book into her bag which was full of other books. Sylvia saw this and rolled her eyes.

"Always getting things done ahead of time, huh? Well would you at least be so kind as to escort me?"

"Sure." Angel placed the strap of her bag over her head and back onto her left shoulder. "I'd love to escort-Ah!" Angel was once again surprised by her friend who had suddenly maneuvered her body underneath the Kirlia and rose up so she was now straddling her back.

"Great stuff! Let's go!"

"Wh-what!? I-"

"Hold on tight and don't yank the ribbons!" With that, the energetic Sylveon took off from the secluded area and into a more open path. Dodging fellow pokémon as well as other obstacles, she made a Beedrill line for the northern-most road that will take her to the Fairy Realm's Life Tree.

"Syl! Via! Please! Slow down! You're going too fast!" Angel complained from her spot on top of her friend, holding on for dear life.

"What's that? Sorry I can't hear you over all this fun!"

Sylvia kept on charging ahead, finally making it to the long road lined with trees more magnificent than the ones at the entrance of the realm. These ones had an assorted color of leaves. Even pink leaves!

Angel kept her arms wrapped around her friend's neck, fearing a painful fall should she let go. Unlike her friend, Sylvia was having the time of her life. She sometimes went off the path so she could navigate and dodge around the multitude of trees and rocks, suddenly changing direction or leaping over just before it looked like she was going to crash into some of them. Nearing a low hanging branch, she observed that its elevation was just high enough that the Sylveon would be able to pass right under it but low enough that it would cause harm to her friend if she tried. Smirking mischievously, she used one of her ribbon-feelers to loosen her friend's grip on the front of her body and then bucked upwards, sending the surprised, wide-eyed Kirlia into the air and over the branch only to be caught by the Sylveon on the other side seconds later.

"Sylvia!"

"Cool, right?" Now at the end of the road, Sylvia rejoined the main path and begun to slow down before skidding to a complete stop. "We're here! Angel? Hey, Angel!" She used her feelers to poke at her friend who still had her arms wrapped around her with her eyes shut tight and wasn't budging.

Shrugging, Sylvia proceeded forward and the path opened up to a large garden. A huge garden. A garden bigger than any pokémon could ever behold in their lives. It had to be like one hundred meters in diameter. Every kind of flower that could be grown on land decorated the place and that was no exaggeration. Orchids, roses, sunflowers, you name it, this place had it. The beauty of it all was further enhanced by the morning sun that cast its brilliant glow upon the area, making it look ethereal. The only part of the grand garden not riddled with the magnificent floral display was a single narrow route that lead to a large, stark white, leafless tree in the center of it all. This was what the fairies called their very reason for living: The Life Tree. Their patron legendary and lord, Xerneas.

Sylvia carefully approached the mysterious tree. It gave off a warm glow and she could not even begin to describe how good it felt. Stopping right in front of it, Sylvia bowed her head and bared her flowers, using her long ribbons to set them at the base of the tree along with the other flowers that had been placed there by many other pokémon. It actually wasn't a requirement to pay tribute to the Life Tree like this. It was just something the pokémon of the realm liked to do to show their undying gratitude. "For you, lord Xerneas. May your very presence continue to grant our realm peace and tranquillity. Say hi to lord Xerneas, Angel."

"H-h-h-h-h..."

"Angel says hi but I guess you know that considering you already spoke yesterday." Sylvia bowed one last time before making her leave from the Life Tree. "Until next time, lord Xerneas."

Sylvia turned around, Angel still on her back and began making her way back to the main part of the realm but stopped upon seeing the a small group of Flabébé and Floette led by a Florges coming up the path.

"Oh! Miss Fleur! Good morning!" The Sylveon bowed respectfully to the Florges in front of her.

"Good morning, my dear Sylvia. I see you put those orchids to good use?" She spoke with a most enchanting voice. Fleur de Lis. That was her name and she was the single pokémon responsible for all the types of flowers blooming in the garden. When it came to knowledge of flowers and how to take care of them, no one had her beat. With the right environment, she could grow any kind of flower in the world... And she did. She is the red flower variety of Florges.

Sylvia smiled brightly at the elder pokémon. "Sure did! Thank you for the help. Say hi to Miss Fleur, Angel." The Kirlia finally looked up to see the Garden Pokémon smiling at her and greeted her with a barely audible "Hello."

"Hello, Angel." Fleur replied all the same. "Already made your tribute?"

"Yes ma'am." Sylvia answered for the both of them. "We will be taking our leave now."

"Yes of course." The Florges watched as the Sylveon walked around her and made her way to the exit. "Have a good day now." Parting with those words, Fleur and her entourage continued into the garden to tend to the many flowers."

"You two ma'am!" Sylvia called back behind her, finally making her way to the same road that will take them back home. "Ready for round two, Angel?"

Angel just looked at her friend, confused. What could she mean by... Uh oh... "Wait! S-surely you jest!?"

"Nnnnnnope. I in fact do not 'jest'." Sylvia replied, zooming back up the path at top speed and being rewarded with a fresh batch of Angel's panicked noises.

"Sy... Sylvia, please!"

The fun-happy Sylveon just laughed. "The day has only just begun, Angel!"


	2. Chapter 2: The Long Road Ahead

"Oh come on. It wasn't so bad." The Intertwining Pokémon commented as she walked alongside her sulking friend who had long since gotten off her back.

Said friend faced her with an exasperated look. "I don't really mind you carrying me around like that, just the way you went about it. What if I fell or hit that branch?"

"You didn't."

"But what if I did?"

"Well you didn't. I was being extra careful, believe it or not. No point in talking about what never happened, right?" It was a valid argument but it wasn't enough to satisfy Angel.

"Just... A little warning next time okay?"

"Next time? So you did enjoy it?"

"No, I'm just asking you to tell me ahead of time when you next plan on doing something rash since I'm powerless to stop you." It was true. Even if she did attack Sylvia with her psychic power, not that she would ever, it was almost pointless for her to do so anyway. Her friend was a Sylveon and they were known for their extreme durability against special attacks.

"Hey now... No need to be like that. Look, I'm sorry okay?" Sylvia walked closer to her friend and wrapped one of her ribbons around her wrist. Then she channelled a peculiar but pleasant aura through it. "Better?"

The Kirlia sighed in content. "Much better, thank you." Now smiling, Angel couldn't deny how good those ribbons felt against her body. She didn't know what it was about them but they gave off this calming aura and the Kirlia's spirits were lifted immediately even if she was in a sour mood literally two seconds ago. "The day is still early. Got any plans?"

"No, not really." Sylvia pondered for a bit. "Why don't we head over to the training hold and pay Gallant a visit?"

"He's in the training hold?"

"Gallant's always in the training hold." Sylvia replied matter-of-factly.

They were referring to their mutual friend who was also a Kirlia. Angel had met him through Sylvia since they spent far more time training with the public than she herself did. One of the handful of male Kirlia that dreamed of acquiring a Dawn Stone and evolving into the powerful Gallade. For this reason, he trained hard and trained everyday. Pushing his limits and strengthening his body in preparation for his own time of evolution. The Gallade that lived in the realm were not of the fairy type as they lose that during evolution in favor of the fighting type. Nevertheless, they were born as fairies in the Fairy Realm and had a right to call it their home as much as any other.

"Hmm... Sounds good then."

"Darn right it sounds good. Hopefully we can watch him kick the crud out of someone." Sylvia jabbed at the air with her free ribbons like she was a Hitmonchan.

"I think the idea of training is to strengthen one's body not to see how many pokémon you can feed dirt."

"That being said, it's pretty funny when someone actually does end up eating dirt." Sylvia laughed and it was contagious enough to get Angel laughing too, though in a more reserved manner than her joyful friend.

The two walked hand in ribbon a few minutes more before stopping in front of the familiar large building located to the north of the central plaza. If one listened closely, they could hear some commotion coming from the inside. This was the training hold and many aspiring pokémon spent a lot of their time practicing their techniques and strategies here. Some only visiting for the simple sake of battle.

"Sounds like the party's already gotten started. Come on." Still holding Angel's hand, the two of them walked into the building.

The inside was of simple design. There was a wall that spanned the entire length of the room with a door on either side that led further into the building. There was also a desk situated in between the doors currently occupied by two Klefki.

"Looks like we have company, Keychain." The one on their left spoke.

"Indeed we do, Keyring and familiar faces they are." The one on the right replied to his companion.

"Good morning, Sylvia. Good morning, Angel." The two Klefki spoke in perfect unison.

"Good morning, you two. Say hi, Angel."

Angel just gave her friend a tired expression. "What are you, my guardian? You need to stop doing that."

"Angel says hi." Sylvia walked closer to the desk. "Is the training room open?"

"Opened up a little while ago." The one called Keychain informed her.

"Participants are currently minimal so you're free to go in." Keyring floated over to the door and used one of his keys to unlock it for them.

"You lock the doors now?" Angel inquired.

"Necessary precaution. Sometimes things get a little rough. Last time a pokémon flew through this very door. Broke it off its hinges, he did. Had to have it replaced. This way the doors will hold better." The Klefki opened the door and motioned for the two pokémon to enter. "In you go, ladies."

"Thank you!"

The two friends entered the room and the door was closed and locked behind them. This room was far more spacious and made up the majority of the building. There were all kinds of training equipment lining the walls. Punching bags, weights, dummies for target practice and other things. A good number of pokémon were gathered close to the walls of the large semi-circular room currently cheering on a battle that was going on in the center. Unlike the room before that had a stone floor, this one was made up of hard wood to make it easier for battlers to navigate. In the center of the room was a male Kirlia and a Swirlix currently engaged in combat. This Kirlia being the aforementioned Gallant, identifiable by a black strap he wore around his right arm. He wasn't in the usual stance associated with his kind, instead taking a more primal stance.

Both pokémon had a few barely visible bruises on their bodies but they looked like they weren't done yet. Giving a war cry that sounded more cute than threatening, the Swirlix charged Gallant who stood his ground. Upon reaching the Kirlia, the Cotton Candy Pokémon attempted a tackle but Gallant quickly threw his arm out and placed it on the Swirlix's head, using it to vault himself over his opponent and retaliating with a shoulder bash from his new position behind it.

The Swirlix cried out, losing its balance and face-planting onto the floor. Shaking its head a little, it tenaciously got back up and charged its way towards Gallant once again, intending to bring him down to the same level of damage as itself with Endeavor. Gallant stood his ground a second time. He was about to counter-attack when a loose floor board ahead of him caught his eye. Smirking, he used his psychic energy to lift the floor board a little higher, causing the Swirlix to trip over it and land painfully on the ground once more, sliding and coming to a stop at Gallant's feet.

It looked up at him defiantly, getting up and planning on attacking one last time. The Kirlia saw this and he responded by jabbing is left arm forwards, nailing the Swirlix between the eyes before striking forward with his right, expelling a psychic wave that sent the Swirlix flying across the room. The Swirlix landed some meters away from Gallant, this time not moving and making him the victor.

Gallant sighed and stretched while the pokémon around him cheered, some even chanting his name.

"Gallant!" Hey. That one was a voice he recognized. Looking in the direction of the source of the call, Gallant saw Sylvia running up to him, Angel closely in tow at her own pace. "Hey there, Sylvia."

"Hey, Gallant!" Sylvia stopped right in front of him and gave him her friendly smile. "I saw your battle. Well the last half of it anyway. Congratulations. It looks like you're getting stronger every day."

"Do you think so? Because I sure hope so." Even if he was quite skilled, there was still a lot he could go for. As he was still a Kirlia, Gallant's physical hits didn't do so much damage, forcing him to go the extra mile just to fell a single opponent. It was why he trained as hard as he did. When he evolves, though, it will make all his efforts worthwhile.

"I don't think you have much to worry about. Evidently, you're quite skilled." The compliment made Gallant smile brightly.

"Well I have been training my horns off, haven't I?" Gallant put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest in an attempt to look tough but considering what all Kirlia looked like, it didn't sell.

"So... Did you make anyone eat dirt?"

"Did I what?"

"Long story." Angel finally made her presence known. "Hey, Gallant."

"Hey there, Angel." The two shook hands which looked more like a business deal than a greeting. "Funny seeing you in here. I would think you'd be at the library or something."

"Already been. Have a look." The shiny Kirlia reached into her bag for a moment and recovered what she was looking for. "I got a new book earlier today. It depicts the current status of the Legendary Pantheon." Angel explained as she started walking towards a more empty part of the room, her two friends following closely.

"The what now?"

"It's a divine seat among legendary pokémon. Some of them being more prestigious than others." That was surprising considering the explanation didn't come from Angel.

"I never knew you had such a keen interest in literature, Sylvia. Angel rubbing off on you?"

"You could say that my interest was piqued. Taught us both some stuff we weren't ever aware of."

"Like what?"

"Like-"

"Like did you know the Psychic Realm is actually a floating city ruled by a legendary pokémon named Cresselia?" Angel suddenly interrupted.

"As a matter of fact, I did."

"What? Really?" Both his friends chorused.

"Hmmmmm... Nah." Gallant smiled cheekily, causing Sylvia to giggle and Angel to make an unamused frown. "That book does sound fascinating, though. Who wrote it?"

"Ummmm..." Angel looked at the bottom of the cover. "Someone named SK. Cerebral."

"SK. Cerebral?" The female Kirlia just shrugged. "Well whoever that is, they seem pretty intellectual. What with them being able to get detailed descriptions on supremely powerful pokémon that rarely show themselves."

Sylvia decided to put in her own opinion on the matter. "Yeah and who's to say it wasn't written by another legendary pokémon altogether?"

Angel blinked at that. "Wait. You mean to say that my book could be written by a legendary pokémon? That's... That's like... Wow!" Angel hugged the book to her chest and started spinning around. The two other pokémon present just giggled at her antics.

Their good time was short-lived, however, as a pair of pokémon, a Clefairy and a Snubbull, walked up to them with the Snubbull looking none too friendly.

"Hey you three." The Snubbull addressed them. "You guys do know that this isn't the library, right?"

Angel didn't hear her as she was still spinning in joy. Shaking her head, Sylvia stepped forward and answered for the both of them. "We're well aware, yes. Got any other news for us, captain obvious?"

The Clefairy sighed and stepped forward as well. "What my friend means to say is that this is a place of training not loitering. If you have no such business here then you'll have to take your company somewhere else. I don't want to be the one to ruin your fun but it's kind of a rule."

Satisfied with the Clefairy's more reasonable approach, Sylvia conceded. "Alright, we'll be taking our leave then. Sorry for the disturbance. Let's go Angel. Angel? A-Angel, that's enough of that... Stop!" The Intertwining Pokémon used her ribbons to halt her friend's spinning. Seriously how did she not get tired? "Come on, we're leaving. Coming with, Gallant?"

"Sure, I've got time to kill." The male Kirlia prepared to leave with his friends but they were stopped by the Snubbull once again.

"Wait! Before you leave, the floor is still open. What say you to a battle?"

The gathered friends looked at one another then back at the two other pokémon.

"You guys go on ahead. I've already had my fill for the morning." Gallant offered.

The Clefairy spoke up next to the Snubbull. "Let's make things more fun with a double battle. How about it?"

Sylvia smirked and gladly accepted the challenge, eager for a little brawl. "Come on, Angel. Can't back down from a challenge, right?" Unsure, the Emotion Pokémon looked at the other Kirlia in the group.

"Go ahead. Here let me let take that for you." Gallant held onto Angel's book and bag for her then nodded towards her with a smile. Angel nodded back before facing her soon to be opponents.

"Challenge accepted."

The four of them made their way to the open battle spot in the center of the room with Gallant staying behind and playing spectator. Angel and Sylvia stood on one side with about three meters space in between them with their opponents doing the same five meters ahead of them. Other pokémon were already gathering around them, eager to watch another battle take place.

"You guys ready? Then here we go." The Clefairy presented a rock and tossed it upwards. All party members watched it fly up then fall back down. The moment it struck the ground, the battle begun.

Angel got things started by activating her ability: Trace. Selecting the Snubbull as her target, she traced her Intimidate ability. With it as her new ability, Angel's eyes glowed a fierce amber that was imposing enough for her opponents to think twice about attacking her.

The Snubbull activate her own Intimidate ability, eyes becoming fierce and baring her fangs. It made both Angel and Sylvia weary enough to take a step back but they were both specially oriented pokémon and if they did things right, they wouldn't have to get close enough to the Snubbull for her ability to hinder them.

The Clefairy's action was a more defensive one in Cosmic Power. The starry energy surrounded the fairy type pokémon and he felt immediately felt the strengthening effects of the aura, boosting both his defense and special defense.

Next was Sylveon who decided to play support and ran to Angel's side. Knowing what was coming, Angel held her hand out for her friend to take. Sylveon reached out with one of her ribbons and wrapped them around her partner's arm, granting her with the damage boosting effects of Helping Hand. With her body temporarily powered up, Angel let loose a strong Dazzling Gleam that assaulted her opponents and lit up the entire room.

The bright flash of Angel's attack, further backed by Sylveon's shared power, was enough to knock both their opponents off their feet. The Clefairy caught himself in mid-air using his wings but the same couldn't be said for the Snubbull who was unfortunate enough to keep tumbling a good distance accross the floor.

Quickly recovering thanks to his enhanced defenses, the Clefairy channeled the power of space. Flying high up, he raised a glowing fist and came careening back down like a meteorite with Angel as his intended target. It wouldn't come to be, however as Sylvia ran up and took the blow for her friend. Intimidate or not, Angel wouldn't be able to handle the Meteor Mash attack.

Sylvia winced as the explosive punch sent her body skidding along the floor. Not only was that a physical move which she was vulnerable to but it was also a steel type move which happened to be one of the fairy type's weaknesses. She wasn't down for the count, though. She had high vitality and it would take more than that to take her out.

"Sylvia... You okay?" Angel teleported to her side at once, still in her battle stance. The pokémon on the other side of the field had recooperated as well and even though the Snubbull looked shaken, she could still fight.

"Don't worry, this is nothing."

"Of course I worry. We're partners in this fight, right?" Angel's horns glowed brightly for a moment and she performed Heal Pulse, releasing the healing wave as a series of ripples that patched up the Sylveon's bruises. "Better?"

"Much better, thanks." The Sylveon smirked and faced her opponents once more, feeling good as new. "That blow hurt, I won't lie but at least I left him with a little parting gift." Angel looked back at their opponents and saw the Clefairy acting peculiar. Instead of attacking, he just kept on staring at Sylvia like she was his very reason for living. Cute Charm. That was Sylvia's ability. It infatuated opposite gendered pokémon that made physical contact with her.

Angel smiled, with the larger threat out of the way, she could focus on the wounded Snubbull. "Then let's wrap this up, shall we?"

The Sylveon nodded to her partner and closed her eyes, using Calm Mind to hone her senses and channel energy through her body. Seeing this, the Snubbull charged at Sylvia in the hopes of ditrupting her concentration with her Play Rough attack.

Angel would have none of it, though. She held her arms in front of her and the Snubbull was suddenly struck with an unseeable psychic force, sending her rolling along the ground once more before coming to a stop right in front of the preoccupied Clefairy. Right where they needed her.

With her meditating done, Sylvia finally let rip with a powerful Moonblast, sending the white projectile flying at the incapacitated pair, impacting and enveloping them both in a large dome of unforgiving energy which further illuminated the room with a brilliant glow. When the attack finally ended, it revealed their opponents that were sprawled on the ground where they lay very defeated.

"Hah! Child's play!" The Sylveon hopped side to side and seeing her friend so happy was enough to get Angel twirling again. Done with their little victory dance, the two made their way back to their third friend while their former opponents where carried off on a stretcher and taken to the infirmary located in one of the back rooms.

When Sylvia and Angel made their way back to Gallant, he wasted no time in complimenting them. "Good job, you two. That was some nice display of teamwork."

Sylvia smirked and held her head high in a victory pose. "Thanks! It just goes to show that-" Her sentence was suddenly interrupted by the sound of her growling stomach and she made an embarrassed smile at her amused friends.

"Looks like all that fighting worked up an appetite... Heh. So how about we go to the food stands and get a bite to eat? Come on, Gallant!"

"Well now that you mention it, I am kinda hungry..." Gallant found himself being pulled ahead by one of Sylvia's ribbons with Angel smiling and following along.

* * *

XXXXX Fairy Realm - Secluded Spot XXXXX

The three fairy friends had returned to the small hidden area that Angel liked to do her reading. They were currently sitting on the grass around an elevated flat rock upon which lay their treats, bought courtesy of Angel who was the only one that thought to bring her money with her that day, not that she minded. Their treats consisted of half a dozen poképuffs. Delicious, mouth-watering cupcakes that were so extremely popular with pokémon worldwide that nearly everyone had a recipe or two on how to prepare them. These particular ones were acquired from a Slurpuff than ran a small stand in the plaza that sold them in different varieties.

"I don't think I can get enough of these things." Sylvia commented, taking another mouthful off one of her poképuffs.

"I'll admit they're quite easy to get addicted to... I just wish we could have at least helped Angel chip in on the price."

"I told you guys, it's fine. Mom always gives me more than enough spending money so please enjoy them." Angel waved them off as she enjoyed her own snack.

Enjoy they certainly did, indulging themselves on the delicious cupcakes. By the time they were done, the only indication of the poképuffs' existence was the small bit of crumbs left on the rock they were gathered around. Record time.

"By the way, Gallant, I've been meaning to ask... What's that?" Angel wiped the remains of her treat off her mouth and pointed at Gallant's arm. The black material he wore caught her attention from the time she first saw it this morning.

"Oh this? It's a muscle band."

Sylvia walked around the rock to where Gallant was seated so she could get a closer look at it. "What does it do?"

"It enhances my physical attacks. Simple as that. Since I train in the close quarters department, I need all the help I can get and this thing provides me with just that."

Angel also got a closer look at it. "It looks just like a plain black cloth to me. How does it work?"

"Well... I suppose you can say that the surface has a special compound that stimulates muscles when wrapped tightly against the skin... But that's just a theory I have. As long as it does its job, I don't really care how it works."

Sylvia looked surprised. From her point of view it just looked like a fashion choice. "This thing does all that? Where did you get it?"

"Had Jubilee make a requisition for me from the Pokémon Settlement when she first told me about it and how it could help with my training. She said items like this get manufactured and distributed from the Steel Realm all the time." Gallant laid down on his back in a more lazy fashion, facing the blue sky and soon joined by his friends.

"I really wish I could see for myself just what goes on out there. At least just once, you know?" It was a strict rule that the younger populace of the Fairy Realm could not leave their home without supervision or even at all, being their 'future' and everything. Even if she did have supervision, there would be a limit to how far she could travel. Not like she could just ask an adult to escort her to see the whole world and back like it was something so simple. The thought was ludicrous.

"I hear ya, Angel. How about you, Gallant? Don't you think it would be nice to see the outside even if it was just for a short time?"

"I'm about to, actually."

"What!?" Sylvia suddenly got up on her feet and faced Gallant directly, making him sit up in surprise. "For real? Or are you just joking like last time?" Angel was also surprised at Gallant's comment though she wasn't going to be as hysterical about it as her friend. "If not, why, how and when?"

Looking at the Sylveon's intense expression made him suppose she was privy to an explanation. "Um... Well... A select group of Kirlia in training, me being one of them, are going on a field trip to the Pokémon Settlement to request dawn stones. We're being led by our training instructor, Edge. You know, one of the Gallade that works in the Training Hold. We could have had Jubilee make the request for us but he said it could be an opportunity to test our prowess if we make the trip ourselves. I was surprised myself to be honest."

"So you're going into the Brilliant Meadow? Gonna fight wild pokémon? See the Pokémon Settlement with your own eyes? All that noise?" Sylvia punctuated each of her questions by moving her face closer and closer to Gallant.

"Yeah. All that noise." The male Kirlia lightly tapped Sylvia's forehead and put a little more distance between them. "I don't know what it's like yet but I can't deny that I'm pretty excited. All he told us was to prepare accordingly and that he'll give us the details tomorrow morning."

"Well aren't we lucky all of a sudden?" Sylvia pouted, wishing she could get in on the presented expedition.

"I don't know if I could call it 'lucky'. There are just as many dangers out there as opportunities, after all. Anything could happen. Especially if one is unprepared." Angel's reasoning didn't ease Sylvia any.

"Hey which reminds me... I have some supplies I need to collect in preparation for the trip. You guys are welcome to come along if you want?" Gallant got up and stretched his body out a little.

Looking at each other and figuring 'why not,' Angel and Sylveon nodded to Gallant, deciding to do just that.

"Great. Let me just get my money bag from home. I'll meet you guys at the Fiore's Berry Shop. That alright?" Another collective nod. "Great. I'll see you two there then."

And with that the gathered party separated with Gallant leaving in one direction while Angel and Sylvia left for the designated rendezvous point.

* * *

XXXXX Fairy Realm: Fiore's Berry Shop - Entrance XXXXX

It was a building everyone was familiar with. Fiore's Berry Shop was one of the many buildings that rested along the inner circumference of the Fairy Realm. The main part of it was a simple housing with potted flowers that decorated it at the base and even on the rooftop. Then there was the rear part which was concealed by a high, circular stone wall in which the gardening to make various berries took place. This is where Angel and Sylvia had gathered and were currently waiting for their third comrade to make his appearance.

"He sure is taking his time."

"I think that's just you being impatient."

"It's been like forever."

"We've only been here ten minutes, ourselves."

"He can teleport, can't he?"

"Yes but it isn't necessary."

"You think something might have happened?"

"No."

"What if something happened?"

"Sylvia, please be patient."

"I'm just saying, what if he was given chores to do the moment he got- hey, there he is!" Sylvia raised a ribbon and waved to the gradually approaching Kirlia who waved back.

"Hey guys." Gallant stopped in front of them, a bag resting at his hip with the strap around his waist. It looked similar to Angel's but black. "Got everything I need right here. Shall we go in?" Opening the door, the three pokémon quickly entered the berry shop.

The inside was of the shop was of simple design as well, though it was fairly spacious. The left and right walls were lined with multiple shelves that held an assortment of berries which other customers were currently inspecting and to where the three made their way first.

"So what are you looking to get?" Angel asked.

"Salac and Leichi berries. Fruits that stimulate a body to raise one's speed and physical attacks, respectively, when consumed. Gonna need those if I'm gonna be getting into unavoidable battles with hostiles."

"Do they taste good?" Sylvia got a closer inspection at the berries Gallant had collected.

"Depends on your preferences, really. I certainly like how a Leichi berry tastes but I doubt you guys would."

"Why? How does it taste?"

"Spicy."

"I hate it already."

"That's okay. You wouldn't be needing it anyway, I'm sure. I would recommend an Apicot berry for you which raises endurance against special attacks. A Maranga berry is a much more reliable version of that but that one is a little pricy since it's hard to come across. I would also suggest a Petaya berry for Angel since it would help boost her own special attacks."

Angel looked back at the shelves housing the many berries. She herself was now interested in the multitude of colored consumables. Perhaps she'll be making a trip back here, sometime in the future.

With what they need in hand, the three started making their way towards the counter where the store owner, a Florges, was currently conversing with a few of her Floette assistants.

"How are the Sitrus and Lum crops coming along?"

"Just about ready to sprout, ma'am." One of her assistants answered.

"And the Kee and Maranga berries? We shall be expecting customers looking for those types soon."

"Ganlon, Leichi, Salac and Petaya berries have been planted in series, Miss Fiore. Surprise Mulch was used so we can have better chances of a berry mutation."

"Excellent work, ladies. That will be all for now." The gathered Floette all bowed to their boss before disappearing through the back door and into the garden. Now that they saw that she was free, the three new customers walked closer to the counter.

"Good afternoon, Miss Fiore." Gallant greeted.

Hearing her name, the addressed pokémon turned around, revealing herself to be the white variety of Florges. "Angel, Sylvia, Gallant. What a lovely surprise. Is there anything I can do for you?" Fiore gave them a most friendly smile associated with her species.

"Yes there is, ma'am." Gallant stepped forward, money bag at the ready. "I'll be purchasing these three Salac berries and three Leichi berries. Please and thank you."

Gallant laid down a few Shards onto the counter while Fiore placed his order into a small disposable bag. "Here you go Gallant." Fiore retrieved her new Shards and placed them somewhere secure behind the counter. "Would these be for your training regimens as well?"

"Actually, these are for a bigger reason than that."

"A bigger reason? That being?"

"Well you see-"

"Champion over here is going on trip to the Pokémon Settlement. Gonna brave the Brilliant Meadow, beating down on bad guys and making his way to his prize: a Dawn Stone. Huzzah!" Sylvia wrapped a ribbon around Gallant's shoulder and flashed what she assumed was a heroic smile.

Fiore looked between the Sylveon and Kirlia in surprise. "Is this true?"

"Um... Yes. A group of us are being led by our training instructor on a trip to the Pokémon Settlement to order some Dawn Stones. It's a test of strength to see if we're ready to take on higher challenges when we evolve, he said."

"Hmmm... Is that right?" Fiore placed her right hand under her chim and rested her elbow on her left. "Well I do hope you stay safe. I would hate to think that something might happen to you all."

"I assure you that I'll be fine Miss Fiore. No cause for concern. Just a trip and back. Wouldn't want to put worry lines on that pretty face of yours." Gallant's comment brought color to Fiore's now smiling face. Not to mention surprised his friends.

"I'll take your word for it then, Gallant. Will that be all?"

"Yes, ma'am. Be seeing you." They all gave a friendly wave goodbye and with that, the three left the berry shop.

"Alright, just one more trip and we're done."

"Where to now?"

"We're going to Redolence's Incense Store." Gallant was already walking towards his new destination with Sylvia and Angel close by.

"What are you getting from there?"

"Just a little something that would help with the trip. I had Redolence prepare it for me in advance so this should be a quick trip."

The three continued to walk, now in silence, until they got to yet another large building. This one looked similar to Fiore's Berry Shop, sans back garden of course. The main difference being the chimney jutting out of thee top of the building from which a visible pink mist wafted. This was Redolence's Incense Shop. It was popular for making... Well, incense. Different types that had different effects. Some of them used in aromatherapy while others were used just for the sake of giving their homes an inviting scent. Gallant, however, had a more practical reason for his visit.

"Redolence?" Gallant called as he entered the store. This one was vastly different from the previous one they had visited.

This building looked more like a lab of some sort. From the entrance, there was a long stone slab starting a few meters from the door and going all the way into the back wall. It was about fifty centimeters high and just wide enough to accommodate the many apparatuses that lay along it while giving enough space for someone to walk along either side of it. Beakers, bunsen burners, test tubes and a lot of other stuff even Angel couldn't identify. There were a series of five doors that spanned the entire left wall and a large chalk board on the right wall littered with equations that made their heads spin just looking at them.

"Redolence, you here?"

"Just a moment!" Came a voice calling from one of the rooms. A moment later the furthest door opened and out walked an Aromatisse. The Fragrance Pokémon held a tray where multiple vials with colored liquids lay and placed it on the slab. "Why, if it isn't Gallant! I've been expecting you. Here for your order I presume?" The Aromatisse spoke with a feminine drawl.

"That's right. I take it they're ready?"

Redolence closed her eyes in what was an assumed smile and motioned for the three to come over. "I see you've brought your friends with you. How have you two been?"

"Well, thank you."

"Fine, thanks!"

Redolence turned their attention to the tray of sealed vials. "Here's what you asked for, Gallant. Good and ready. Please do not let the glass bottles fool you, I assure you they are quite sturdy."

Gallant bent over and inspected the small glass containers from a closer angle. There were three vials; a green one, a pink one and a red one. His friends joined him, curious as to what they were exactly.

"What are these? What do they do?" Angel asked and Redolence was more than happy to explain.

"They are specific types of aromas I created, each condensed into a liquid state. This one right here..." Redolence picked up the green one. "This one carries a healing property that is to be applied on wounds or other small injuries. This pink one has a very strong, pleasant fragrance that attracts other pokémon and this little guy here..." She picked up the remaining red one. "This one carries a pungent scent that no pokémon can tolerate. Aromatherapy, Sweet Scent and Stench all in a bottle. Convenience!"

The three adolescent pokémon were astounded at the concoctions. Convenince, indeed. But...

"Wait, you're carrying a liquid that attracts other pokémon? Isn't that a little dangerous?" Angel asked Gallant.

"Maybe but I won't use it for that. It's so that my team mates know where to find me, should we get seperated."

"Well look at the brain on Gallant. That's some nice thinking." Sylvia complemented. "So I'm assuming you know why he needs this stuff, Miss Redolence?"

"I was one of the first ones he told, actually. Very exciting news, indeed. That's why he had me prepare all this for him. Paid in advance, he did." The Aromatisse gave another of her eye smiles.

"Oh... Really?" Sylvia gave Gallant a disatisfied frown.

"Don't give me that look. I told you eventually."

"Only after the subject was brought up."

"Leave him alone, Sylvia. He was evidently busy with preparations and stuff." Always the reasonable figure, Angel was.

"Which reminds me, Redolence. Any idea of what type of pokémon I'm likely to run into in the Brilliant Meadow?" Gallant chose to ignore the Sylveon's complaining altogether.

Redolence took on a thoughtful expression. "Well the Brilliant Meadow is home to many pokémon of the grass, fariy, flying and field egg groups. I'm sure you're aware of at least those. Zigzagoon, Pidgy, Oddish and others of the sort. Pokémon born outside of the realms tend to be weaker than us prestiged pokémon but that shouldn't allow you to drop your guard. There are things like Seviper and Fearow lurking out there and you need to be extra mindful. These pokémon, christened 'wild,' also tend to be hostile so please be on alert. It's quite a trip from here to the Pokémon Settlement on foot but there isn't that much cause for concern if you know what you're doing."

Some time during her explanation, Angel, Gallant and Sylvia had taken to sitting on the floor and were looking right up at her like youngsters in a classroom. It wasn't that far from the truth. "Wow, that's all fascinating, Miss Redolence. Anything else you can tell us?" It was obvious that Angel was the most interested in the lesson. Even more interested than the one that actually asked the question.

"Like what, my dear?"

"Like if you know that, could you perhaps tell us about other locations you know of?"

The Aromatisse put a hand on her hip. "I could explain even the whole map, dear."

"Yes! Please do!" Angel's friend's that were seated on either side of her blinked at her out of character outburst. Redolence herself was half-kidding when she said she would explain the entire map but seeing her audience so eager to learn she decided to go along with it.

"Very well. If you would all follow me..." The mature pokémon led them to the other side of the room and drew their attention to a vacant part of the black board. Picking up a small, narrow, fragile-looking stone, she begun her lesson.

First, she drew one large circle and then eighteen smaller circles that ran around the larger one's outer circumference. "These smaller circles represent the many realms. Each Type has its own. Clockwise from the top: Water, Grass, Fairy, Normal, Flying, Electric, Dragon, Fire, Rock, Ground, Dark, Ghost, Poison, Bug, Psychic, Fighting, Steel and Ice. Each of them are connected to the mainland which is this larger circle here."

"Except the Psychic Realm. Being a floating and all."

"That's right, Angel. Where did you learn that?" Certainly not from the learning complex, Redolence reasoned. That usually limited its teachings the Fairy Realm, the conjoining Brilliant Meadow and the Pokémon Settlement. Young pokémon had no business learning about the other realms because it was a rule that they can't leave until adulthood and an even bigger one that a pokémon couldn't enter a realm it didn't belong to without a very good reason.

"I read it in a book." Angel motioned with her hand towards the Fragrance Pokémon. "Please, continue."

Seeing she wasn't getting a better explanation than that at the moment, Redolence shrugged and returned to her lesson. She drew another circle halfway into the larger circle. This is the Pokémon Settlement. It's a gathering of all kinds of pokémon and has a higher population than any of the realms and is the cornerstone of the world's commerce."

Redolence then motioned to the remaining space of the larger circle which now looked like a wheel, what with 'Pokémon Settlement' circle in it. "This is the mainland, it spans around the entirety of the settlement and is home to the many, MANY wild pokémon." Redolence drew lines to divide that section into twelve parts, though they weren't all equal.

"The mainland is identified by its many climates: Still Lake, which leads into the Water Realm." She drew a connecting line from that divided section of the big circle to the top small circle and continued to do this as she listed the other locations. "The Brilliant Meadow, which have routes that lead into the Fairy, Grass and Normal Realms. Tempest Peaks which leads to both the Flying and Electric Realms. Volcanic Summit which leads to the Dragon and Fire Realms. Seismic Highland which leads to the Rock and Ground Realms. Twilight Forest to the Dark Realm. Spectral Forest to the Ghost Realm. Damp Everglade to the Poison Realm. Swarm Forest to the Bug Realm. Spirit Peaks to the Fighting Realm. It also used to lead to the Psychic Realm but you know what happened there... Rugged Peaks to the Steel Realm and finally, the Blizzard Peaks which leads into the Ice Realm." Joining the last line to the corresponding realm, the Aromatisse put down the chalk and dusted her hands off.

Looking back, Redolence was pleased to find that Angel had taken out a parchment and used her hand which was tipped with a black substance to draw herself a copy of the map.

Sylvia herself was still looking at the map on the black board and was amazed at the vast locations the world offered. So many possibilites, she thought. "Have you been to all these places, Miss Redolence?"

"Heavens, no. Just the Pokémon Settlement. I don't really have any business visiting the other realms or other locations for that matter. I learned about all the other locations through written research and stories I heard during my own trips to the settlement."

"Score one for research." Angel got up and used her psychic power effortlessly pack her stuff back into her bag."

"Well then... Satisfied?"

All three of the young fairies nodded their heads. Very satisfied indeed. "Thank you for everything, Redolence. We'll be taking our leave now." Gallant bowed to the older pokémon in gratitude and he and his friends made their to the exit.

"Bye now. If you need anything else, you know where to find me." With her three little visitors gone, Redolence made her way back into one of the rooms to resume her work.

A wonderful thing youth was, Redolence thought. A wonderful thing, indeed...

* * *

END CHAPTER


	3. Chapter 3: To the Settlement

The sun had just begun to set over the horizon, marking the end of business hours for some and the day entirely for others. The sky of the Fairy Realm was now tinted a bright orange, casting upon the land a dim glow. Pokémon young and old alike shuffled out of the multiple establishments with home as their new destination. The time for three youths, however, was still being spent in that familiar secluded clearing, discussing issues of severe importance.

"Sorry, Gallant but I'll have to disagree with you there." Sylvia kept a stern expression fixated on her male friend.

"I agree. Though I'm not entirely with Sylvia on this, I'm afraid I share different sentiments."

"You guys don't know what you're talking about. Anyone with good sense would definitely agree with me on this."

"There isn't enough proof to support your claim. You're just going on a personal opinion."

"It isn't a personal opinion. It's fact."

"The pink, flower-topped poképuffs are the best, Gallant! The way those morsels just melt on your tongue backed by that delicious after-taste left behind by the flavored cream just sells it!" Sylvia would not be deterred from her argument.

"Biting into the sweet minty toppings of the green poképuffs and the cool but welcoming breeze they leave in your mouth thereafter surely leaves nothing to be desired." Gallant defended his favorite flavor of their favorite treat.

"I feel the delicious smoothness of the chocolate deluxe poképuffs and the soft creamy decorate it's dressed with easily makes it an obvious favorite."Angel folded her arms and stood her ground as well.

"It's obvious that we won't come to an understanding on this so the subject may as well be changed."

"..."

"..."

Now that the argument had been quelled, the three found that there really wasn't much left to talk about. They had pretty much spent the entire day together, returning to this very spot after their eventful trip to Redolence's. Subjects both as serious as Gallant's trip to the settlement and trivial as the poképuff discussion had been covered. With nothing going on any more, the obvious decision was made.

"It's getting late. Maybe we should get back to our homes before our families start to worry..." Angel got up from her seat on the ground and stretched. "Besides, since you're going on that expedition tomorrow, you need all the rest you can get, Gallant."

"That's right. We wouldn't want a Fearow getting a lucky hit because you're too fatigued to fight." Sylvia manipulated one of her ribbons to look like a pointed corkscrew and poked it at Gallant's chest. "Fearow used Drill Run."

"Stop that." Gallant lightly tapped the offending ribbon off him. "I'll be fine. I've stayed up later than this with no ill consequences. Though I appreciate the concern, thank you. I'll be taking my leave then... Goodnight, you two."

"Goodnight, Gallant."

"Later, dude."

With a nod to the both of them, the male Kirlia took his leave from the clearing.

"We should be getting back, ourselves. Mom will throw a fit if I get home any later than I already am." Angel and Sylvia were both already making their way out of the clearing themselves.

"Then until tomorrow. Have a goodnight, Angel." Sylvia reached around and gave her friend a hug.

"Yeah. You too, Sylvia." Angel replied as she returned the gesture. With that done, the both of them parted ways with a similar goal in mind.

Now out in the open, the remaining Kirlia sighed and started to make her own way home. It had been quite an eventful day, she thought. The one of a kind book she had acquired from the library, her battle alongside Sylvia, the time spent together with her friends, Gallant's news about him going to the Pokémon Settlement and even that impromptu lesson from Redolence. Indeed, the day couldn't have gone better...

Walking a little while longer, she came to a stop in front of the very familiar building. It was a fairly large framework, cube shaped with a connecting smaller structure jutting from the left wall. Several decorative pots with assorted flowers growing from them lay strawn around the lawn. The rectangular sign mounted at the top of the domicile read 'Sana's Ceramic Store.' Sana being the owner of the store and also her mother.

"I'm home." Angel closed the door behind her and looked around the room. The immediate area was an obvious shop front. There was a counter ahead of her where all the business got done and the shelves on either side of the room held many neatly displayed products. Ceramic plates, ceramic bowls, ceramic pots... Just about anything a pokémon would want to decorate their house with or eat their meals from. Finally, there was a door behind the counter which led to their bedroom. Off limits to clients, of course. "Mom?"

A door to her left opened up and out walked a Gardevoir but looking a little different from others. First being that she had blue hair, blue arms, an amber chest protrusion and amber eyes, the rest of her body being white. She was shiny just like her daughter. The other difference being...

"You're all messy again. That job must really get irritating at times." Angel pointed at all the colored patches that had yet to dry on the Embrace Pokémon's body.

"Well when you spend all day making ceramic products, this tends to happen a lot." Sana used her psychic power to lift all the plaster off her body, combining it into one and tossing it in a nearby trash bin, leaving her in pristine condition. "Good evening, Angel." The older pokémon beckoned her daughter over.

Angel smiled, running up to give her mother a hug. "Hey, mom. How was your day?"

"Same as always, really. Making business transactions and getting myself covered in gunk in the process. I assume yours was eventful? I hadn't seen you all day since you left this morning... Did you get that book you wanted?"

"Yes." Angel separated herself from her mother and reached into her bag, pulling out the book of legendary lore. "Tada!"

"Fascinating." Sana hovered the book up to her level. "Where did you even learn of this book?"

"From Miss Flora. Who learned it from Miss Jubilee." Since Angel had always been fond of reading, she had been Flora's most frequent client. The young Kirlia had read her way through many books that the Floette had eventually told her that if there was a type of book she was interested in but couldn't be found in the library, she was allowed to make a custom order. So she did. Week after week Jubilee, who made the orders for them, would always check in the settlement's own archives and relay to Flora what kind of books were available at the time who would then relay to Angel who would go on to make the order for any books she would be interested in. When news of a book that depicted the legendary pokémon reached Angel, she made the order right away and in time, she finally had it. "Speaking of... They extend their greetings."

"Oh? Why thank you, Angel. I'll be sure to visit them sometime... Is this what you've been reading all day?" Sana flipped threw a few of the pages, a little intrigued herself, though she already knew some of its information.

"Oh no. Sylvia showed up." Of course. "She had me escort her to the Life Tree. Then she took me to the Training Hold so we could see Gallant." Uh huh. "We had lunch together. Then Gallant took us on errands so he could make preparations for his trip to the Pokémon Settlement." Wait what? "Then we-"

"Young Gallant is going to the Pokémon Settlement? When?"

"Tomorrow morning. According to him, he and other male Kirlia are going to the settlement led by their training instructor to request Dawn Stones." Sana simply blinked at the news before breaking into a smile.

"My, my! How fascinating! Your little friend is on the road to becoming a defender of the realm, is he? Exciting news indeed!" Sana clasped her hands in front her and swayed her upper body side to side.

"Mom?"

"That would also make him an eligible suitor, would it not? I imagine he will be able to turn a few young ladies' heads."

Angel just blinked at that. "He's in the amorphous egg group, mom. There's a very limited amount of pokémon he can marry here."

"Indeed." Sana looked at her daughter who just cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Huh?" Oh for crying out loud... She was still impossibly innocent. Oh well, for another day... Probably like decades in the future.

"Come now, Angel." The Gardevoir gave the book back to her daughter and led her toward the back room. "Dinner has already been prepared."

* * *

Dinner was good, just like it always was. Roasted Sitrus and Oran berries with a few chocolate deluxe poképuffs for dessert. The cooking structure in the center of the room was simple but efficient. A circular hole, one meter diameter, was grafted into the ground so that when firewood was placed in it along with the cooking pot on top, the entire thing remained at ground level. It was to keep accidental fires at an extreme minimum. Angel couldn't use fire moves herself but her mother had access to Will o Wisp. The bedroom overall was rather cozy with it simple design of two beds and layers of shelves on every wall that supported their belongings. Currently, the two residents lay on their sleeping cusions with Angel on her own smaller one while Sana rested on her larger one. Larger not only because of their size difference but because it was originally shared.

Knight, Sana's husband and Angel's father was originally a part of their abode before he left to live in the Pokémon Settlement. Hard at work there and a professional at what he does. He was a defender of the settlement among many other soldiers and also acted as a diplomatic bridge between the Fairy Realm and the Fighting Realm. His endeavors allowed them to be distant allies and earned him a second home in the Fighting Realm. It also brought more money to the Fairy Realm and vice versa. Because of all the Florges living here, the Fairy Realm could provide all kinds of crops, some of which couldn't be found anywhere else. The Fighting Realm itself was responsible for all the equipment and regimens in the Training Hold. As anyone would gladly tell, the partnership has been a successful one.

"When do you think dad will pay us a visit again?" Angel asked from her spot. The last time she had seen him was when she had just evolved into a Kirlia.

"Soon, I hope. Been missing him, huh?"

Angel tiredly nodded her head.

"Yeah... So do I..." Sana patted the vacant spot on her bed. Knight ritually sent letters to them on how things were going or just to say hello to his beloved family but it wasn't as good as him actually being there with them. He sent money too, though it wasn't really that necessary as Sana had a successful business of her own here in the realm.

"Do you think maybe we can write a letter to him? You know, see how he's doing?"

"Would you like too?"

Angel gave her mother another nod.

Sana sat up on her bed and smiled at her daughter. "Then we shall do just that. Come on over."

Angel got off her bed and walked towards her mother's, picking up her previously discarded bag in the process. Sitting next to her mom, she pulled out a small parchment and a bottle filled with a black substance. Sana herself presented a quill she had 'borrowed' from a flying type when she was in the Brilliant Meadow a little while back. With that, the two pokémon begun to write their letter...

* * *

Fairy Realm, the next day - Main Entrance

A new day marked new opportunities, they said. What with the realm's residents making their way to their business establishments, ready to roll in the cash to support themselves and their entire community. For five young pokémon, however, that satement could not be more true. A gentle breeze wafted through the area near the Fairy Realm's main route as the gathered Kirlia waited for their supervisor to show up, eager to begin a journey that would hopefully end in their evolution. This is the day they had all been waiting for. There was just one problem...

"Where's Edge? He said for us to meet him here bright and early."

"I woke up like two hours ago. If I knew he'd be late, I'd still be cuddling my Teddiursa doll."

"You still sleep with that thing?"

"Helps me relax, okay?"

"Fine, fine. Seriously, though... We've been out here for like..."

"Half an hour."

"Yeah, half an hour. Why is it that we're more punctual than him?"

"You'd think he would the first to show up."

"I know right? What, did he have a late night?"

"Maybe. I heard he's seeing one of the Gardevoir from the Training Hold."

"Think he's getting the good stuff, huh?"

"Well he doesn't always battle. All that energy's gotta go somewhere."

There was a collective laugh among the group. The problem with having a crowd of males in one place...

"Sounds like you're all having a good morning." A new, much more mature sounding voice spoke from right in front of them and they all canned it with the laughter. Seems their supervisor had teleported in some time during their laughter. "What's with the commotion?"

"Gallant told us a joke."

"Damn it, Valor..."

"Oh?" The Gallade smirked down at the now agitated Kirlia. "Must be one heck of a joke. Let's hear it, Galla-"

"I didn't tell a joke. Let's drop it." Gallant glared at his friend.

Their captain, Edge, just stared at the small group and sighed. Ever since he was annointed to be their training instructor, he found they always got into these kind of squabbles. This is how it always was with the trainees he committed himself to. Sure they were exceptional and hard working fighters but they were boys first. It sometimes got to the point that a fight would break out just because their eyes met. Oh well... No time for reminiscing. He was here now and their trip would begin shortly.

The Gallade cleared his throat, getting the attention of everyone there. "Valor, Gallant, Resolute, Intrepid, Stalwart. I'm glad you could all make the trip. I gather you all planned accordingly like I asked?" A collective nod. "Good. Let's hear what you have. Valor?"

The Kirlia named Valor, identifiable by the muscle band he wore around is waist stepped forward and presented his green bag to the older pokémon. "I brought five Sitrus Berries, a Cheri Berry, and two Pecha Berries."

"Very nice. Gallant?"

Gallant opened his bag and showed its contents. "Three Salac Berries, three Leichi Berries and salves I got from Redolence that heal wounds, attract pokémon and repel pokémon. You don't have to worry about that second one, though. It's for regrouping purposes only."

"Excellent. Resolute?"

The pokémon with the red bag stepped forward and told of his supplies. "Ten Oran Berries, five Chesto Berries and a smoke ball I had ordered from the settlement."

"Great." Edge nodded at the next Kirlia, Intrepid.

The Kirlia with a twisted spoon hanging from a chain around his neck stepped forward. "Five Leichi Berries, three Salac Berries, three Petaya Berries and five Roseli Berries."

Edge simply stared at Intrepid for a moment. "Roseli Berries? What in the world for?"

"Nothing. I just like eating them."

The Gallade just shook his head before moving on to the final Kirlia. "Let's hear it, Stalwart."

The final pokémon with the purple bag rummaged through his bag for a moment. "A focus sash, two Apicot Berreis, two Ganlon Berries and five Sitrus Berries."

Edge nodded to himself. They did a good job in collecting resources considering the small window of planning he gave them and the fact that there wasn't much for them to choose from for the time being. "Very good, all of you. I, myself, brought us supplies for this trip. Sitrus Berries, Pecha Berries, Chesto Berries, Cheri Berries and Salac Berries, all twenty in quantity. I also brought along a little pick-me-up popular with many hard-hitting pokémon like myself." Their instructor opened the white bag he wore at his waist and pulled out a white and blue striped cloth. "Can anyone of you tell me what this is?"

"Choice scarf." They all answered in unison.

"I don't fully understand why but it boosts one's speed with the drawback of forcing you you to use only one attack as long as you have it on." Valor explained.

"Oh? So you've seen one before?" Edge asked, impressed.

"Only in a battle item catalogue we borrowed from the library. It's what led me to order this twisted spoon, personally." Intrepid fiddled with the twisted spoon that hung under his neck.

"It's also where I learned about my muscle band." Valor informed.

"And my focus sash." Stalwart added on.

"I see. Looks like you five have been doing your homework. If you keep up like this, our trip shouldn't be much of a hassle. Hopefully if things go smoothly, I won't be forced to wear this." Edge grinned at his class. They had always been trying hard not just to impress him but also to further their own knowledge and strength. It was good to know that their motivation did not stem from the simple desire of evolution. He was proud of them.

"Hey, come on, Intrepid... Don't hog the Roseli Berries!"

"It's not my fault you didn't think to bring any of your own now back off before you force me to lay a smack down on you!"

"That a challenge, tough guy?"

"No, because a challenge would suggest you have what it takes to stand up to me!"

Edge's left eye twitched a little but he remained composed. "That's enough, both of you." Edge grabbed the Roseli Berries from the youths with his psychic power and placed them in his bag. "You'll get these back later. I need you all to stay focused. Clear?"

The gathered trainees all nodded their heads, though two of them weren't happy about it.

"Good. Now that preparations are out of the way, we can-" Edge's sentence was cut short as a blue haired Kirlia appeared before him in a flash. She looked around a little before spotting her query.

"Gallant!" The young female Kirlia walked up to him in haste.

"Angel?" The male Kirlia was honestly surprised that his friend had suddenly shown up like this. Was she here to see him off?

"Um... Hi... Um..." Angel held up a small rolled up parchment tied with a red ribbon. "Listen... Could you please, you know, since you're going to the settlement... Could you please deliver this letter to the postal center for me?"

Gallant looked at the offered piece of paper for a second before taking it from her. "Sure, Angel. No problem." He gave his friend a smile.

"Thanks, Gallant." Angel returned the smile. Though, it was short-lived when she found that all eyes were on her. Starting to feel nervous, she thought it best that she left right away. "OkaybyeGallantseeyouwhenyougethome!" And with another bright flash, she was gone.

Gallant gazed upon the place Angel had been a second ago before shrugging and placing her letter in his bag.

"That sure is a lively friend you've got there, Gallant." Edge commented.

"I wouldn't call her 'lively', really. She just cracks like that under pressure." Gallant looked back up and saw his friends smirking back at him. His horns started to glow. "Violence promised upon whoever makes a stupid comment."

Now provoked, all his friends' horns started to glow as well.

"Violence promised upon anyone that starts a fight on my watch." Seriously, they should save it for the wild pokémon or something.

All of them instantly ceased their tomfoolery, not wanting to invoke the Gallade's wrath.

Seeing his students now behaved, Edge walked passed them and towards the wide route that would lead them to the Brilliant Meadow. "Let's go."

All playfulness replaced with seriousness, the trainees followed their training instructor out of the Fairy Realm.

* * *

Brilliant Meadow - Fairy Realm Entrance/Exit

The meadow was as spacious as he remembered it and that term was a severe understatement. The vast grassland was as high as his waist and spanned for miles ahead of him. Flowers grew en masse and bloomed majestically across the massive field. It had to have been the largest ecosystem he had ever seen. There were tall trees that he could see from his height many kilometers far to the east but that was not their destination. If Edge and his group kept moving forward at a relatively fast pace, they would reach the settlement before night fall.

"Is everyone here?" Edge called out behind him.

"I'm here."

"So am I."

"Present."

"Right here."

"I can't see a thing."

"Don't worry. A path ahead will open up shortly. It will lead us straight to the Pokémon Settlement. For now just stick close to me."

Edge and his crew carried on walking for about ten more minutes before the tall grass cleared away to reveal a dirt road that sloped upwards ever so slightly. The thing stretched out for a few miles and was wide enough that the Blade Pokémon and his students could stand side by side and there would still be more than enough space left.

Edge turned around and addressed his students. "This is the path I mentioned earlier. If we stick to it, we should reach the settlement before it gets too dark. As you might have heard, the Brilliant Meadow is home to many pokémon of the field and flying egg groups. Wild pokémon tend to not show themselves in the open like this, however, so risks of an attack are at a minimum."

"Aw man, really? I need something live to practice my moves on." Valor said, disappointed.

"Yeah. We certainly don't train ourselves to exhaustion for no reason. I thought you said this trip was a test to see if we had what it takes to handle the responsibilities that came with our evolution." Resolute backed his friend up.

Edge nodded. That certainly was a good argument. But it did not mean he was willing to carelessly throw them in the face of danger. "I admire your spirit but you don't always need to get into a fight to prove something to someone. Besides, it's like I said. No pokémon would attack us on this open path even if we wanted a fight."

At that very moment, a Zangoose flew out of from the tall grass to their right and hit the ground hard in front of them. The thing was covered in scratches, bruises and was in generally poor condition. It struggled to its feet, claws beared and looked around it in alarm as if expecting something to happen. In an instant, a Seviper jumped out from the grass the Zangoose had appeared from, blood red fangs bared and attempting to go for the kill.

The Zangoose glared defiantly at its assailant. With fury in its eyes, it took a lighting quick swipe with its sharp claws, catching it dead center, dividing its body in two and sending its crimson fluids all over the ground as well as some on itself. It wasn't over, however, as a second Seviper leaped from the grass behind the Zangoose and sunk its fangs into its right leg. The Cat Ferret Pokémon cried out and raised its right claw, intending to put an end to its enemy. Unfortunately for it, a third Seviper took that opportunity to leap out from its hiding spot and bite into its raised arm. Wincing, the Zangoose dropped to its knees and two more Seviper were upon it, red fangs bared. The two snakes coiled around its vulnerable body, anchoring their large pointed teeth into the normal type's side and finally, its neck. The bloodied cat ferret fell onto its back, struggling for a while before its body was still forever.

Although Edge kept a straight face, his students' expressions told a different story entirely. Shock was clearly present on their faces, not expecting to see such a cruel display of violence one pokémon enacted on another. So these were the wild pokémon they heard so much about.. Was this how they all behaved? Like bloodthirsty monsters? "Focus everyone! They are upon us." Edge extended his elbow blades and took on a battle stance.

Snapping out of their stupor, the Kirlia all followed their teacher's lead and took on battle ready stances as well. They split into smaller groups. Gallant and Valor paired together, Resolute and Intrepid on a team and finally, Edge and Stalwart as the final duo. Each of them stood their ground as the incredibly hostile Fang Snake Pokémon made threatening hissing sounds at them. It appeared they no longer cared for their previous foe, making it look like they only killed the Zangoose simply because they could and they were next if they didn't get their act together.

The first Seviper wasted no time in throwing itself at Gallant. Said Kirlia narrowed his eyes. As he was still a fairy type, he couldn't afford to be hit by any poison attacks and coming from a pokémon like Seviper, it would spell certain doom.

Gallant's horns glowed bright and he channelled as much energy as he could in his small window of opportunity. Thrusting his arm forward, he expelled the accumulated energy directly at the purple snake who couldn't dodge from its position in mid-air. The Confusion attack was successful, completely repelling the hostile snake and sending it flying a few meters back. The snake wasn't done, though. Getting back up the moment it hit the ground, the Seviper hissed at them and slithered towards them at an alarmingly fast rate. Gallant and Valor fired wave after wave of psychic energy at their fast approaching foe but found it nearly impossible to hit with its zig-zagging maneuvers. Their attacks did nothing but kick up dust.

"Plan B?" Valor asked.

"Plan B!" His partner confirmed.

Valor teleported in front of Gallant, making himself the primary target. The Seviper didn't mind either way. When it was done with this one, it would move onto the next, simple as that. With another cruel baring of its fangs, it leaped forward, intending to end the Kirlia's life... And rammed face first into a large rock, its world exploding in pain. A piece of the ground had been uprooted by Gallant's psychic power and went unforeseen by the Seviper due to its fixation on Valor who had teleported to safety at the last second. The snake got back up, head ringing and seeing stars. The pair of fighters decided to finish it off by sending simultaneous psychic blasts from either side of it that struck it like a vice, pulverizing its skull and killing it instantly.

The two Kirlia smirked at one another. Walking up to each other, they gave a spin for a moment and gave each other a high-five over the snake's carcass.

Things on the other side also seemed to be going well. Resolute and Intrepid's horns glowed bright as they used their combined psychic power to hold down a Seviper and lay waste to its mind using strong telekinetic energy. It hissed in agony for a good while before it fell over, unmoving. Edge and Stalwart wrapped things up on their end as well with Stalwart levitating their target into the air and the Gallade dealing the final blow, sending a purple crescent-shaped projectile that severed it at its center.

The team looked to the fifth and final Seviper that quickly weighed its options. Deciding that a five to one fight was madness, the Fang Snake Pokémon quickliy tried to withdraw into the tall grass.

"I don't think so." Edge was upon it at once. He teleported right on top of it, right leg pressed upon its body to keep it from moving. Raising his arm high, he swung it back down with a force that was accompanied by a purple flash which beheaded the final Seviper. The Gallade watched as its body continued to flail side to side for a while before addressing his students. "These things usually attack in hordes. If you let one escape, it will be back with more. Remember that."

His students all nodded as they watched their leader intently. "Looks like that guy learned the hard way." Stalwart motioned to the dead Zangoose in the middle of the road.

"That's a Zangoose. A mortal enemy of Seviper. When they meet, a fight will break out. Not can... Will. This one was unfortunate enough to stumple upon a horde of them. Let us press on lest we risk meeting a similar fate. You all did a very good job but please keep your guard up, everyone." Edge motioned down the road, this time letting them pass by him so he could walk behind them where he had a better eye on his students.

Hopefully there wouldn't be anymore dangerous encounters... Hopefully.

"So what was that about pokémon not attacking us?"

"Don't crack wise."

* * *

Fairy Realm - Secluded Spot

"So let me get this straight... Dialga's existence is what keeps time flowing?"

"Right."

"And Palkia's own existence is what keeps everything in order? Space, you called it?"

"That's correct."

"But they live in separate dimensions, not so?"

"That's what it says in the book."

"So then why does Arceus need to keep an eye on them? On that topic, why would they want to fight at all? Are they selfish enough to disregard existence just to get in a scuffle?"

Angel thought about the question for a moment before giving her answer. "I suppose Arceus monitors them in order to keep the balance of time and space intact... As for why they would act hostile to each other... Hmmm... Maybe it's the simple fact that they are both dragons. Dragons are always known for fighting over territory. So when they meet, it's natural hostility. There's also the obvious issue of what would happen if the were assaulted or, Arceus forbid, ended up fighting in our world and tearing things up."

Angel and Sylvia had met each other a little after Gallant and his team had left. They had gone to the food stands yet again to purchase those irresistible poképuffs, Sylvia gladly buying this time around. Upon the large flat rock that had become a make-shift meeting table lay the 'History of the Legendary Pantheon'. Since it was just them, they decided to pass the time by finally taking a more in depth look into the book that talked of the many legendary pokémon than they did the first day Angel got it. Both girls sat by each other and were currently reading through the section that spoke of what was known as 'The Creation Trio'.

"That does sound plausible." Sylvia rubbed her chin with a ribbon, thinking over Angel's given explanation. "But what if there's more to it than that? What if there's another reason for them to behave the way they do? Do you think Arceus had not foreseen their shared hostility? Maybe there was some kind of misunderstanding and Arceus punished them both, causing like some kind of rivalry. Ya know, like kids or something..."

Angel looked at her friend in surprise. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her very explanation of them fighting like children sounded ridiculous and she wanted to say as much but she kept stopping herself because of the question at the back of her mind: What if Sylvia was right?

An image of a toddler Dialga and Palkia crying over the last poképuff suddenly assaulted her mind. Darn it, Sylvia. Shaking her head, Angel gave her friend a deadpan look. "I don't think I want to believe that."

"Sounds crazy, huh? I think so too now that I've actually thought about it." You and me both, Angel thought. "By the way. This guy." Angel turned the page to show a section that talked about the Renegade Pokémon. There was no image of it, showing that the author didn't know what it looked like as well. All the page had was the facts.

"Giratina..." Angel read from the top. "This legendary ghost/dragon pokémon was known as a destructive force of nature in its time and is said to have been so violent that it was banished by Arceus to what is known as the Distortion World. A hellish realm said ignore all fabrics of time and space. A dimension where no pokémon would ever want to end up. It is said that long ago, before its time of banishment, it ruled over the Ghost Realm and brought ruin to all that approached it."

"Sounds like a guy you can trust."

Angel looked up and stared at her friend funny. "No it doesn't. It says here that... Oh... That was a joke..." Angels cheeks turned rosy and she bowed her head so Sylvia couldn't see her face.

Sylvia just smiled at her friend's embarrassment but said nothing, not wanting to fluster her anymore than she already was. Looking back down at the book, she could only imagine what kind of a menace this Giratina was that it would take Arceus' direct action to dispose of him. Well 'dispose' may not be the right word. Put him in permanent time out? Yeah, she'll go with that. "From what it sounds like, it's a good thing that this guy got banished. Who knows how much trouble he would be causing if he was still running around?"

Angel finally but slowly looked back up. "Y-yeah. Things are bad enough with those two stirring up trouble. Tornadus and Thundurus."

"Ahh. Those guys." The Sylveon closed her eyes in thought. "Say... You notice how almost all of them like have another legendary watching over them or keeping them in line? The legendary birds have Lugia. The legendary gerbils-"

"Beasts."

"The legendary gerbils have Ho-Oh. Thundurus and Tornadus have Landorus. Even the... Temporal? Even the temporal dragons have their daddy watching over them." Angel really wished she wouldn't undermine the legendary pokémon like that even if she couldn't really disprove her theories. "Only a select few like Jirachi seem to have no affiliates." Sylvia laid down on her side and breathed a sigh of content. "The grass is so soft and warm here..."

Angel was still at her book, looking over the legendary pokémon that fascinated her most. Mew for starters. This one had an image provided. It appeared to be a bipedal feline-like creature with pink fur. It was noted on the page that the author his or herself had only seen it once and went on to say in a trivial comment that they had never seen it land from its levitating position. It had a very long tail and Angel noted that it was quite adorable. She read along the page that it possessed immeasurable power and that surprised her. This little thing? She was bigger than it was. Was it an overstatement? Or was it really the truth that this small pokémon indeed had the power to sunder mountains?

"Mmm... A little more toppings, please..."

Angel looked down at her slumbering friend and smiled. She did look rather cute when not getting up in everyone's business, she admitted. Seeing the Sylveon look so peaceful caused her to yawn as well. A little nap wouldn't hurt, she supposed. She had the whole day ahead of her, after all so her reading could continue a little later...

"Darn it, Sylvia..." Angel laid her head on the ground next to her friend, using her book as a substitute pillow and just like that, she was ready to be whisked away into the dream world. "You're always dragging me... Into these things..."

* * *

END CHAPTER


	4. Chapter 4: Equal Opportunity

Brilliant Meadow - Noon.

Things had been going relatively well for the traveling group. It was true that the straight open path kept them from running into any hostilities barring that Seviper incident. Indeed, wild pokémon tend to not expose themselves in the open especially when they really had no motivation to, making the trip mostly uneventful. Unfortunately, this also made the trip fairly boring which is why Edge and his students had engaged in a little trivia game to pass the time.

"Alright, here's another new one. I boost the damage output of all offensive attacks but I'm hazardous to the holder's health. What am I?"

"Life orb." Valor gave his quick reply.

Edge nodded. "Mm-hm. Alright, I'm a special seal that stimulates your body and puts it into overdrive when hit by an attack you're weak to. What am I?"

"Weakness policy." Stalwart answered this time.

Edge smiled at one of his students giving yet another correct answer. That battle item catalogue they got from the library seemed to be getting pretty good use. Maybe he should up the difficulty of the questions a little. "Okay how's this... I'm a special jewel that raises the strength of both dragon and steel type attacks. What am I?"

All his students looked back at him but kept walking forward. Never had they heard of such a thing even in the informative catalogue they had. An item that boosts the power of two types at once? Did such a thing even exist or was their instructor just pulling their legs?

"Did you make that up?" Gallant finally asked.

"Not at all."

The group of male Kirlia looked at one another in confusion. They didn't have anything in mind that matched the description that their instructor gave. Was it an item so new that it hadn't yet been recorded in books? Or perhaps a dangerous item that no one talked about? Or maybe even a one of a kind item that someone stumbled upon and Edge had only learned of through the berry vine himself?

"Alright, we give up. What is that?" Intrepid was the one to speak up this time.

"It's an Adamant Orb." Edge simply said.

"Sounds made up."

"It does."

"Too over the top for it to be original."

"I already assured you that it is not made up."

Gallant looked back at him again. "Okay. So how do you know what it is if it's so hidden that no one else does?"

Edge closed his eyes. "I'm an adult. I know a lot of stuff." That... wasn't a very good answer. "Seriously, though, it's a special item that was created by Arceus and given to the legendary Dialga to boost its power to near invincibility... Or something like that. Truth be told, I don't have much information on it either. All I know is that it exists. Heard about it from a few expository travellers here and there. Their stories all had consistency which was proof enough for me."

"Who's Dialga?" Resolute asked the question that was on everyone's mind and Edge was more than happy to answer that.

"He's-"

"-A legendary dragon and steel type pokémon. He's one of the first pokémon to be created by Arceus and is the embodiment of time itself. Said to live in another dimension parallel to ours or something." Gallant smirked at his superior who just looked at him in surprise along with his peers. He answered their question but that just raised others.

"That's astounding. Where did you learn that, Gallant?"

"A friend's book." It was obvious who this friend was.

"That girl, Angel, right?" Valor questioned his friend.

"Yeah, Angel. She got this book that has heavy details about the many legendary pokémon. I would ask to borrow it but it's more likely that she steps into this very meadow by herself than letting me have it."

"Maybe there's another one in the library we can borrow? If there are time-controlling dragons running around in different dimensions, I'd want to know about them too." Intrepid played with his twisted spoon out of habit.

Gallant shook his head. "Not likely. According to Angel, that book she has is a one of a kind. Only one was ever distributed and she got it first. Does it all the time."

Valor blinked and faced his friend. "Sounds like she reads even more books than Flora and that's no small feat. She must be well informed."

"Understatement... Although she didn't appear to know what this is." Gallant gestured to his muscle band. "So I'm assuming she doesn't have much interest when it comes to battles. Preferences, I guess. Everyone has 'em."

"It didn't look that way to me yesterday. Your friend seems to be able to handle herself quite well even if I rarely see her in the Training Hold." Edge was one of the supervising pokémon around that morning when Angel and Sylvia visited and it was obvious to him that the female Kirlia was not an amateur battler.

Gallant shrugged. He knew that Angel's lessons came directly from her mother since she preferred not to hang around lots of pokémon but they didn't know that and it wasn't his business to tell them about his friend's private life. "Guess she just has a natural talent."

The group was silent again, the only sounds coming from their marching feet. A little distance ahead, they could see where the meadow stopped and a forest begun. On the other side was the Pokémon Settlement but it was still quite a trek away.

"Hey Edge... What's the Pokémon Settlement like?" Valor decided to break the silence.

The Gallade thought on that for a moment before answering. "It's a lot like our own realm, really. Difference being its much larger size to accommodate all the kinds of pokémon that live there. The settlement by itself has a larger population than any of the realms. Not combined, of course. It's the source of all the trade networks the realms have with each other. When a requisition is made, it passes through the Pokémon Settlement first and then the order is sent of to the respective realm. For example, when we make our requisition for Dawn Stones, it will be processed and sent out to the Steel, Earth or Rock Realms since the Rugged Peaks and Seismic Highlands are known for having the most deposits of minerals. Then in time, the Dawn Stones will be sent to the settlement and that's where Jubilee comes in."

Edge looked at his students who kept walking forward but paid close attention to him, occasionally looking back. Seeing this, he continued. "The Pokémon Settlement itself is protected by a high wall that surrounds its entirety in a closed circle. I mean a really high wall. We're talking 'straining your eyes just to see the top' type of high. Incredibly fortified too such that even many legendary pokémon would have trouble breaking in. The only way into the settlement is through a series of eight gates located in specific locations around the wall." The Gallade started to motion with his arms. "The North Gate, accessible through Still Lake, the North East Gate through the Brilliant Meadow, the East Gate through Tempest Peaks, the South East Gate through the Volcanic Summit, the South Gate through the Seismic Highlands, the South West Gate accessible through the Spectral Forest, the East Gate which is accessible through both Swarm Forest and Spirit Peaks and finally, the North East Gate accessible from both the Spirit Peaks and Rugged Peaks."

"What if someone tries to fly in from the top?" Gallant asked.

"Then the Porygon-Z sentries and flying type scouts situated on top of the wall shoot it down. The gates themselves are always closed and are operated by the Klinklang line. It's pretty secured, I assure you. Trying to force your way into the settlement makes you an enemy of every pokémon in there and you don't want that."

The Kirlia all looked at each other. "Sounds like a serious place. Like a stronghold or something." Gallant finally said.

"Don't fret, you'll be fine. As long as you don't misbehave so please keep your youthful competitiveness to yourselves." Edge said firmly.

"Yes, sir." The young pokémon chorused.

Edge nodded and continued his description of their destination. "The inner part of the settlement has two circular layers of buildings. The outer layer which is composed of the main housings of the pokémon that live there and the inner layer, where all business centers are located like the Postal Service and other shops like the Stone Emporium or Berry Market. In the center of it all lies Apex Lake. It's a mon-made lake, drilled right through the world all the way into the ocean and serves as the resting place and means of transportation for the water types that take up residence in the settlement. That's the gist of it."

Finished with his lesson, Edge looked back up and was pleased to find that they had passed enough time that the forest area was now right in front of them.

"Okay. Here, everyone. Eat a Sitrus Berry." The Gallade used his psychic power to open his bag and float five Sitrus Berries to his students and eating one himself. "These are so you all stay in top form and hydrated. Just a few more kilometers through this forest and we'll get to the Pokémon Settlement in short order. Let's proceed but please be on your guard."

His students all nodded to him and with that, the six pokémon all entered the forest towards their destination.

* * *

Fairy Realm - Life Tree

Angel delivered yet another Dazzling Gleam upon her unidentifiable foes, lighting up the entire garden and vanquishing them instantly. She didn't know when or how things got this bad. One minute, she's slumbering with her friend, Sylvia and the next moment these things invaded, forcing them to flee to the Life Tree and were now fighting for their lives against the sudden onslaught of enemies. She didn't know what they were, what they wanted or how they got in the realm in the first place. They didn't look like any pokémon she had seen or even heard of. Just shadowy visages with hateful blood-red eyes and mouths full of razor-sharp teeth that attacked anything and anyone. Whenever they attacked, they gave out these spine chilling shrieks that shook her to the core. Another thing about them is that there was no thought to their actions. Just a mindless desire to lay waste to all around them and they were doing a good job at that, if the dead plants and scattered bodies are anything to go by. Most of the populace were in the main part of the realm and handling things there which left Sylvia, herself and a few others protecting the Life Tree... Although you couldn't exactly call it the Life Tree at the moment.

"Keep pushing them back, my fellow fairies! These vermin will not best us this day! I will not allow it!" Xerneas yelled out further back from Angel's location. None of them knew when he had awakened from his slumber but they were all glad he was fighting with them in this time of need. His marvellous antlers glowed brightly with all the colors of the rainbow and he unleashed a strong, booming flash of energy all around him that incinerated a good number of the unknown beasts. His inclusion in the battle proved to be of great importance. Not just the morale boost that came with fighting alongside a legendary pokémon but also his Fairy Aura ability which powered the fairy type moves of himself as well as his allies in battle. With it, the fairies of the realm had a fighting chance against the black, screaming creatures, though that's not to say there weren't any casualties. There were just too many of them and it didn't look like they were stopping any time soon.

Angel took a quick look to her left and found that Sylvia was holding her own impressively against their foes. She nimbly dodged backwards when one of them tried to dive bomb her with the intention of biting her head off and she retaliated with a super charged Moonblast which completely disintegrated it along with a few others unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast zone. She looked to her right and saw a Granbull that had its powerful jaws clamped down on one of the ugly things and shook it side to side in order to make sure it was dead. Clamping down hard, the captured foe gave an echoed shriek before exploding into a thick black mist that had the unfortunate side effect of temporarily obstructing the Granbull's vision. Seeing an opening, more of them were upon it, fangs bared with intention of ripping the fairy to bloody shreds. "Sylvia!"

Hearing her name, the Sylveon looked at Angel to see her holding her hand out to her with a look of urgency in her amber eyes. Sylvia didn't hesitate, sprinting to where her friend was, wrapping a ribbon around her wrist and empowering her body using Helping Hand.

Now charged, Angel's eyes and horns glowed fiercely and she threw her free arm out towards the pitch black creatures and they were suddenly halted in mid-air, their teeth inches away from the Granbull. With the creatures in her firm psychic hold, she raised them higher into the air and focused even more power to her attack. The things shrieked a good while before Angel's unforgiving psychic pressure caused them all to explode into a thick miasma that slowly disappeared into the air.

"Good save." Sylvia complemented. "But we're not done yet. Here they come!"

Both girls directed their attention to the garden entrance where more of the creatures invaded through. "There's just no end to them."

"Nothing left to do but to keep fighting!" Sylvia tapped into all the energy she could muster and fired projectile after projectile of her Moonblast attack, picking them off group by group in a brilliant light display before they became too big a problem to handle.

Angel followed suit, horns glowing brightly and releasing yet another Dazzling Gleam that destroyed anything directly in front of her. She continued to fire off waves of her attack but more replaced the ones she had defeated still. Another attack. Another fresh wave of enemies. They continued to shrieked as if to undermine her efforts which were quickly becoming futile. Dropping to her knees, Angel found it difficult to support herself, let alone attack. She was fatigued. She could not go on any longer. She didn't have the endurance her friend had who continued to fire her attacks in rapid succession.

"Come on, Angel! You can't quit now! Keep fighting! Our realm depends on it!" Sylvia was sweating bullets as she used every ounce of her being to try and repel the assault but it was all for naught. They were too many. They couldn't defeat them all. Not like this...

"Lord Xerneas!" Angel tiredly looked behind her and her world instantly shattered. She watched but could do nothing as the red-eyed creatures sailed down from the sky upon and all around her lord and master. She knew him to be great and powerful but even he wasn't prepared for the sudden swarm of beasts. The legendary pokémon charged his horns and expelled a powerful electric charge around him but it was as useful as trying to stop a flood with a small log. Being so many of them, the violent beasts easily filtered right through Xerneas' last line of defense and begun their mass assault. What happened next was a vision that would forever be etched into Angel's mind. Tears welled up in her eyes and the sounds of her lord's dying screams invaded her ears as she watched the creatures rip off chunks of Xerneas' body in a gory display. First his legs, which caused him fall over and left the rest of him completely open. The creatures went for his stomach next, ripping it open and causing his innards to spill out only to be eaten by even more of them. They continued to swarm the fallen legendary, still, using their strong teeth to shatter the Life Pokémon's antlers like twigs. It never stopped there. More and more piled all over the defeated fairy type until it was completely covered by them in a large black heap and all that was heard were the sickening wet and crunching noises coming from within.

Angel was left speechless, tears staining her face and slouched pathetically on the ground. She looked around and saw that everything had quickly become a tragedy. With Xerneas' Fairy Aura no longer influencing them, the fairies of the realm lost their boosted power and that was more than enough for the creatures to begin picking the rest of them off. Angel closed her eyes shut and placed her arms on the sides of her head in an attempt to block out the blood curdling shrieks of the horrid beasts all around her and the dying screams of her fellow fairies that accompanied them. She could have sworn she also heard Sylvia's voice followed by a loud crunching noise but she dared not look.

"Angel... Help me..." She heard her friend call weakly to her but she remained in her position.

"Angel... Please."

"Stop." Angel's body started to shake violently.

"Angel."

"Stop!" Her body continued to shake against her will and she was sure those things had finished devouring everyone and she was next.

"Angel!"

Finally she opened her eyes but instead of seeing dismembered bodies everywhere, she instead saw Sylvia's gentle blue eyes staring back at her and had been using her paw to shake her awake. Carefully sitting up, she noticed that she was back in the small clearing where she had fallen asleep.

"You okay? It looked like you were having a nightmare. Or a daymare in this regard, eh?" Sylvia tried to lighten the mood for the sake of her friend and raised a ribbon which she used to wipe off Angel's tears. "A pretty bad one from the looks of it."

"Sy... Sylvia? But you... And the others... In the garden... Those things..." Angel babbled incoherently.

"Calm down, Angel. Deep breaths. Whatever happened, it's over now." Sylvia held onto the hysterical Kirlia and channelled that serene aura through her body.

"But... But... We were... And Lord Xerneas was..." Wait... "The Life Tree!"

Sylvia blinked in surprise when her friend suddenly disappeared in a flash. Now alone in the clearing, the Sylveon sighed and stood up, stretching a little. Using her ribbons, she gathered Angel's belongings, placing her book into her bag and fastening it to her side. With all of that done, Sylvia started to make her way to where she could guess Angel was.

"Sure wish I could teleport too..."

* * *

Life Tree

Beautiful flowers, tall trees, sun shining down on the marvellous garden. It was just as she last saw it. If anything, it looked even more impressive considering her last vision of it. What mattered the most to Angel, however, was the large white tree in the center of it all. It radiated the same aura that made her feel safe. Her Lord Xerneas was still very much alive.

"Guess I overreacted." Kneeling, Angel reached out and touched the large tree at its roots and felt a rush of rejuvenation course through her body that made high sigh in bliss. "I was a fool to ever think you'll leave us, Lord Xerneas. Forgive me." She gave a weak smile.

"Angel?"

The addressed pokémon looked behind her and found the red flower Florges that nurtured the garden she was in staring down at her.

"Oh... Miss Fleur." Angel got up and dusted her knees off. "Good afternoon." She bowed respectfully at the Garden Pokémon.

"Good afternoon to you." Fleur de Lis gracefully returned the gesture. "I didn't expect to be seeing you here today. Did you come to make another tribute?"

"Um, no. You see..." Angel looked away and rubbed her right arm. "I just... I wanted to make sure everything was alright."

Fleur looked at Angel in confusion before floating closer to her. "What ever do you mean, dear? Did something happen?"

The Kirlia now rubbed her hands together. Indeed it was a terrifying dream that came right out of the blue but how would she explain it? It consisted of the deaths of every resident of the Fairy Realm including Xerneas so surely it would sound absurd and maybe even insulting to their patron legendary. She never shared the contents of her dreams with anyone other than her mother because they always made her feel self conscious and it wasn't any different here... But when she gazed up into the mature pokémon's concerned eyes, she felt like she could trust her enough to relay her plight to her instead of keeping things bottled up.

"I... I had a nightmare. These... These things suddenly invaded our realm and attacked everything. Lord Xerneas was there too. We all tried to fight them off but there were too many." Angel's body trembled a little just remembering them. "They killed us all... Even Lord Xerneas. They..." Angel closed her eyes shut and her voice cracked a little. "They stopped at nothing to eradicate our entire home. They laid waste to all our plants and feasted on our flesh..." The Emotion Pokémon was now in hysterics. "There was blood everywhere! They tore us all to pieces. Including Lord Xerneas! Those things... They eviscerated his body... And then Sylvia... Redolence... Mom... And even yourself. The sounds... The screams... We all died! Wiped out off the face of the world by those frightening beasts! I hadn't even... How could such a thing-"

"Angel." Fleur's gentle voice instantly calmed the young pokémon that was on the brink of fresh tears. The Florges placed her hand on top of Angel's head which caused her to look back up. "Please do not be so afraid. I want you to know that what you experienced was nothing but a bad dream. Everyone has them now and then and even though they are quite terrifying, they aren't real." Fleur turned Angel around and made her face the Life Tree. "As you can see, everything is fine. Behold our majestic garden in all its beauty. Even in his state, Lord Xerneas is doing everything in his power to keep us safe and our flourishing realm is evidence of that. He gave us the gift of life and continues to do that even to this day. Any hostile pokémon that would be foolish enough to enter our realm invites the possibility of being vanquished by our combined power. Even the wild pokémon patrolling the outskirts know that ours is not a simple settlement and will never risk doing anything drastic. Someday you will evolve into a Gardevoir and the Fairy Realm will become that much stronger." The Garden Pokémon made Angel face her once again and she saw the sorrow in her eyes replaced by a small bit of hope. "No matter how dire a circumstance can be, never doubt Lord Xerneas' power or your allies. And never doubt your own. Do you understand?"

With her fears washed away by Fleur's calming words, the Emotion Pokémon wiped her eyes and nodded her head. "Y-yes. Thank you, Miss Fleur." Angel smiled and wrapped her arms around the Florges' lower body in gratitude.

"You are most welcome, child." Fleur would have hugged the Kirlia back but she was too short so she settled with gently rubbing the top of her head.

"Awww. How nice. Angel has a knight in shining armor."

Angel's eyes opened and she looked behind Fleur de Lis to see her friend seated at the entrance of the garden who was smiling back at her. "How long have you been there?" Angel's cheeks already started burning at the thought of being exposed to her friend like this.

"Long enough." The Intertwining Pokémon got up and started making her way towards the pair. "That was quite a lovely speech, Miss Fleur. I can't remember the last time I was made to feel so safe in our realm. You have my thanks as well." Sylvia stopped in front of Fleur and politely bowed her head.

"You're welcome, my dear Sylvia." The Garden Pokémon separated herself from Angel. "Are you fine, child?" Angel gave her a small nod and Fleur nodded back. "Then I shall leave you two to your business. Let us speak again sometime, hm?" With those parting words, Fleur de Lis floated deeper into the garden to tend to her flowers while the two friends watched her for a short while.

"She's so nice. Wouldn't you say so, Angel?" Sylvia watched from a distance as Fleur picked a bundle of different flowers and combined them into a charming bouquet.

"Yeah... She is." Angel openly agreed with her friend. The only other pokémon that had ever offered her this level of comfort was her mother, Sana.

"Are you really fine, though? You looked pretty shaken when you woke up." Her friend gave her a concerned look.

"Yeah... I'm fine now."

"Good."

"Ah!" The Sylveon once again manoeuvred her body underneath the Kirlia and rose up so that she was now on her back.

"Come on. Let's go to Fiore's Berry Shop. I've got a craving for some Oran Berries. Don't worry, I won't cruise this time." Sylvia didn't wait for her friend's response and started walking back towards the main part of the Fairy Realm.

Angel looked down at her friend but did nothing to stop her, figuring she may as well enjoy the ride she was offered. With a smile, she supposed that it was a privilege to be blessed with friends like her. Life was good.

Sylvia made a smile of her own when she felt Angel's arms wrap gently around her neck. Even the smallest bit of comfort she could offer her friend made her feel happier than anything. Now in an even better mood than when she woke up, Sylvia broke into a small trot towards their next destination.

* * *

Forest Area - 5 Kilometers from the Pokemon Settlement.

"Alright, I'm next. I spy-"

"Probably a tree." Gallant interrupted Stalwart's chance at their game.

"You didn't let me finish."

"Am I wrong?"

"...No." Stalwart conceded.

"This isn't a very good game to play if there's only one thing around us. How were we even able to go twelve rounds in this game?" Resolute was genuinely baffled.

"Perhaps another game then?" Stalwart asked.

"Like what?" Valor looked at his friend for a suggestion.

"How about we sing one hundred bottles of berry juice on the wall?" Intrepid suggested.

"No!" Came everyone else's reply. Even Edge.

"Geez, fine. Hostile work environment."

"This is a hostile environment altogether and I'm sure the native pokémon wouldn't appreciate your bad singing." Edge was one of their means of inspiration well and good but he wasn't going to have his students sing on his watch.

"My mother says I have a lovely singing voice." Intrepid defended himself.

"She's your mother. She's suppose to say stuff like that. But now that you're with pokémon that would gladly hurt your feelings, we can tell you that your singing can scare a Hydreigon away." Valor shared his painful honesty with his friend.

"You could have let me down easy." Intrepid's voice was laced with irritation.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"If we ever run into one of those things, though, I don't know what I'd do. I've seen a picture of a Hydreigon before and it didn't look friendly." Gallant recalled the image of the three-headed, crazy-looking dragon. How was the guy who sketched that able to return home, he wondered?

"Pfft. I'd kick its ass." Valor boasted and his statement made Edge roll his eyes.

"And how will you do that?" Their teacher inquired.

"Dragons are weak to fairy type attacks, right? On top of that, as fairies, we're completely unaffected by dragon attacks. It's especially bad for a pokémon like Hydreigon since I heard it also has a dark typing and that makes it even more vulnerable to our attacks."

Edge smirked at Valor's logic. It seemed his students knew a lot about type match ups than they let on. However, he had his own knowledge to dispense as well. "That's an insightful look of things, Valor, I'll give you that. But having a type advantage over your foe doesn't always guarantee a victory. Did you know that a Hydreigon could learn Flash Cannon, a steel move?"

Valor looked up at his teacher with surprise. "They can?"

"Sure they can. It's not limited to Hydreigon either. A lot of dragons are known to carry poison and fire attacks to compensate for their weaknesses. Dragons are very versatile pokémon and that's what makes them dangerous. There are also incidents of electric type pokémon getting the upper hand on ground types using Grass Knot or Hidden Power so you can't always rely on brute forcing your way to victory just because you're confident in your type. My final point being, and this is the most important one, that you won't be a fairy type for long so you better brace yourselves for those Draco Meteors if you plan on fighting dragons in the future."

And just like that, everyone's eyes widened in realization. When they evolved into Gallade, they lost their fairy type to have it replaced by the fighting type, giving them new strengths as well as weaknesses. They were literally turning into a different pokémon and they would have to work through many experiences in order to get used to their new bodies.

"Well damn, you're right." Valor was going to say that fighting beats dark but if he did, it would look like he wasn't paying attention to his lesson.

"Of course I'm right. You're all still green, after all. Heh. Little joke there." Edge's students all cringed at the poor joke.

"Awful."

"I agree."

"You could have come up with something bet-"

"Stop." Edge said firmly, halting in his tracks and causing the Kirlia to do the same. He rubbed the red crest on his chest that was sensitive to emotion. Yet, he felt only one kind of emotion and that was hostility. "We've got company." His elbow blades were already extended which made his students stand back to back and assume battle positions. After it was now brought to their attention, they felt a tingle in their own horns and they didn't like it.

"Doesn't feel like the good kind of company either..." Gallant commented, looking around, not knowing where the perceived threat would strike from.

Edge looked first to his left and then his right, trying to scout the enemies' locations. There was sudden surge in his chest protrusion which told of his enemy's hiding spot. "Hmph. Gotta try harder than that." Edge narrowed his eyes to the right and eventually a white-furred pokémon leaped out of some bushes with its arms raised high in an attempt to slug him with an overhead strike. The Gallade responded by crossing his arms above him just as his foe swung its own arms down at him. Unfortunately for it, the entire underside of a Gallade's arms were incredibly sharp and its forceful attack only ended with its own paws getting chopped off. Edge withdrew from his defensive stance and crouched down a little before rising up with an uppercut to the chin that sent the Vigoroth screaming back into the bushes from whence it came.

"Woah. That was amazing E-" Intrepid's complement was cut short as another one of the normal types tackled him from the left, separating him from the rest of the group and pinning him to the ground.

The Vigoroth raised one of its arms high then brought it down in a quick jab, sinking its claws into the dirt where its prey had just been a second ago. From his new teleported position on top of the Vigoroth, Intrepid drew forth from his twisted spoon to power himself up and struck it with a strong psychic blast point blank at the back of its head which further caused it to slam face first into the ground, knocking it out. "How do you like that?"

"Focus, everyone. Here come more!" Edge got into a standard battle stance as more of the wild pokémon appeared around them. "One, two, three, four, five... Six... Seven. Damn." The Vigoroth had them surrounded, some standing in a slouched posture while other hanged from trees, all hopping in place and making jeering noises at them. "I think we're in their territory."

"Great." Stalwart wrapped his focus sash around his waist, knowing that anything could happen in this situation. "Just what we need..."

"Everyone eat a Salac Berry." Gallant shared some of his to those that didn't bring their own. "These things are known for having such a vital spirit that they can't sit still. They're very agile so we'll need a boost in speed to keep up with them." Gallant popped his own Salac Berry into his mouth and swallowed it, already feeling the enhancing effects. "The Pokémon Settlement isn't that far from here. We'll clear a path and then make a break for it. Understood?"

All his students nodded, not entertaining the idea of fighting so many hostiles at once either.

With a cry, the first one ran on all fours towards the easier targets while its partner engaged the Gallade. The one with Gallade in its eye jumped at him with its claws bared and Edge took aim, quickly swinging his arm outwards and sending a crescent-shaped projectile vertically at it that chopped off one of its arms. The Vigoroth cried out and its attack was interrupted, causing it to land painfully on the ground and hold onto its bleeding stump. Edge wasn't done as he ran up and punted the floored pokémon in the face, sending it flying into another Vigiroth that tried to avenge its fallen comrade. Another one was upon Edge, this time from the rear and restrained his arms by curling its own under them. A new Vigoroth took the opportunity to rush the Gallade, intending to end him once and for all.

"You sure about that?" Just as the foe in front of him swung one of its claws, Edge leaned his body down, a motion that made the Vigoroth behind him rise up onto his back, making it the new target. The attack was already in motion and its partner could not stop itself from slashing it across the face and knocking it off the Blade Pokémon's back. Now free, Edge delivered a rising right hook straight into the remaining pokémon's gut followed by a left hook that fractured its jaw and sent it flying into a tree, out cold. "Don't think I forgot about you." Edge spun on his heel and charged the Vigoroth that had restrained him. The enraged Wild Monkey Pokémon met him halfway and took a swing at him with its sharp claws but Edge went low, spinning on his arm and striking out with an extended leg, sweeping his foe's legs out from under it and dropping it to the ground. The Gallade quickly finished things by jumping back up and delivering an elbow drop that impaled the Vigoroth at the base of its spine, killing it. "Tch. Gotta clean that up later..." Edge commented, brushing some of its blood off his arm.

The situation on the other end was still heated as the young Kirlia fought diligently against the opposition. One of them was already down, missing a few teeth and Gallant ran towards a fast approaching second one. The Kirlia crouched low at the last moment just as the normal type attempted a pounce, sliding underneath its body, avoiding its attack and firing an unseeable force at a Vigoroth that was behind it, catching it off guard and knocking it to the ground. The primary Vigoroth looked behind itself in confusion, leaving its back open. Valor wasted no time in sending a psychic blast aimed at the back of the target's head that caused to topple and flail its arms in an attempt to regain balance.

"Valor!" Gallant called for his partner.

"On it!" Valor appeared beside Gallant in an instant, grabbing his arm, spinning him around once and tossing him at the Vigoroth that had just stood back straight. The airborne Kirlia flipped through the air and threw his legs out, delivering a drop kick to the normal type's face and at the same time, Intrepid expelled another psychic force at the Vigoroth's feet, causing it drop painfully to the ground from the choreographed assault with Gallant delivering a final telekinetic blow to the face that spelled lights-out for their foe.

"Score one for the little guys." Valor smirked. His victory boast was short-lived, though, as the Vigoroth that was knocked off its feet earlier had gotten back up and was rushing at the exposed Kirlia, wanting nothing more than to impale him on its claws.

"Valor!" Without thinking, Stalwart teleported in the way of the attack meant for his friend. He cried out in pain as the claws penetrated his skin but he was lucky enough to grab onto the Vigoroth's arm and use some of his psychic power to keep the claws from sinking too deep into his body and cause serious harm. The focus sash around his waist glowed for a moment before dissipating, saving him from what would have been a life threatening blow. "Damn. Paid good money for that too..."

Seeing their friend injured by the Vigoroth, the remaining Kirlia were suddenly filled by a seething fury. They all teleported around the Vigoroth, surround it and their horns and eyes begun to glow. The Vigoroth shook for a moment before withdrawing its claws from its prey and placing them beside its head. It started to scream as all its senses were assaulted by a most unpleasant sensation. Dropping to its knees, it continued to scream, this time with blood leaking from its eyes, nose, mouth and ears. It shook violently for a few more seconds, eyes rolling up into its head and then falling over, dead.

"Choke on it."

"Piece 'a crap."

"You got off lucky, asshole."

"How's Stalwart?"

"He's gonna be fine." The Kirlia all looked towards Edge who had taken the time to treat his injured student. His bag was open and the young fairies all noticed the first-aid equipment in it. He had already cleaned the wound along with giving him some manner of small pill to eat and was currently wrapping a bandage around the affected area. All done, Edge packed up his kit and sat the treated Kirlia upright. "How do you feel?"

"It hurts... But I think I'll be fine..." Stalwart's wince of pain turned into a peculiar smile on his face and he stared blankly ahead of him. Looks like the first-aid was a big success...

"...I don't know what you gave him but I think he likes it. Look at him." Resolute commented, watching his friend waver side to side in content. Medicine shouldn't be able to work that fast, should it?

"I'll have what he's having." Intrepid smirked.

"No time for jokes." Edge hoisted the incredibly happy Kirlia onto his back. "It's almost sundown. We need to make it to the settlement before it gets too dark."

Edge started jogging towards the direction of their destination along with the rest of his students only to have five more Vigoroth appear in front of the Blade Pokémon with one of them shouting profanity at him. "We don't have time for this. Gallant, your vial!"

"Yes, sir!" Still running, Gallant opened his bag, removed the red vial, uncapped it and used his psychic power to propel it at the noise-making Vigoroth.

With its mouth wide open, the offending pokémon got a full taste of the putrid fluid. Its eyes widened and it started rolling on the ground, clawing at its own throat in a frantic attempt to expel the foul liquid from its mouth. Its companions would have helped it but the stench was so terrible that it caused all of them to flee deep into the woods. Being so preoccupied with the cruelty that was inflicted upon it, the screaming Vigoroth never noticed the six psychic pokémon run past it.

* * *

Pokémon Settlement - North East Gate.

"Woah." It was all that could be said. After a little running following their engagement, the forest didn't just give way to a more open path. It revealed to them the high wall of the Pokémon Settlement in all its splendor. The solid stone wall not only extended for miles on either side, it also rose up high and Edge wasn't kidding when he said one would have to strain their eyes just to see the top. The wall itself was colored red and the bricks which about fifty centimeters wide were tiled on top of each other in an orderly fashion. The main gate which was directly in front of them was embedded into the wall and was built using gray bricks, all cemented together in an eight meter wide, ten meter high slab.

"So this is the Pokémon Settlement huh? It's... Big." Gallant summed it all up.

"Very big."

"How long did it take them to make this thing?"

"Not sure. Years probably. This settlement has been here long before even I was born. Stalwart, we're here." Edge shook the sleeping pokémon on his back awake.

"I'll have mine with a side order of honey..." Stalwart drooled on Edge's shoulder.

"Just let him be, Edge. He's in no condition to walk anyway and I'm not talking about his injuries." Intrepid gestured to his sleeping friend who still had a wide smile plastered across his face.

"I suppose. Come on, everyone." Edge motioned for them to follow him and follow they did. Walking just a few meters more, the group came up to the front of the large gate flanked by two Klinklang.

"Halt. Identification is required to proceed any further." The one on the right said.

Edge reached into his bag and pulled out a small circular stone with the settlement's crest that depicted a conjoined trio of a talon, a paw and a fin. "Edge of the Fairy Realm. Visiting. Here to make a business transaction. This is my charge." The Gallade motioned to the group of Kirlia under his care.

Satisfied, the Klinklang moved their bodies and joined them with the two gears on either side of the gate. After properly adjusting themselves, they begun to move their own gears, activating the mechanism and causing the massive gate to begin rising. Inch by inch, the gate revealed to them more of the settlement. The visiting group could already see the large multiple buildings as well as a few pokémon, both familiar and unfamiliar alike going on about their business. Due to the time, though, the streets were mostly empty and most of the residents had already called it a day. "Welcome to the Pokémon Settlement. We hope you enjoy your stay."

"Come on, everyone. Let's find an inn to bunk in. We shall make our requisition in the morning." Edge walked passed the gate and into the settlement, followed closely by his awestruck students.

Gallant grinned, excited to get some food in his belly after the day's ordeals. He proceeded forward but then suddenly stopped on his second step when he felt his horns tingle ever so slightly. He looked up to where he felt the emotion coming from and he could have sworn he saw a black figure zip through the dimmed sky, coming from the same direction as him and his team. What was that? A pokémon? He barely got a good look at it. Could it have been the cause of what he felt?

"Gallant come on!" One of his friends called from ahead of him.

"Uh, coming!" Gallant briefly looked back up but found nothing this time. Shrugging, he ran and caught up with his teammates, ignoring the sorrowful emotion he felt but knowing it still lurked at the back of his mind.

* * *

END CHAPTER.


	5. Chapter 5: The City of Commerce

Even though the young pokémon had hardly even been there long, the Pokémon Settlement proved to be the most amazing thing they had ever witnessed, Xerneas notwithstanding. The buildings were nothing like the ones back in the Fairy Realm. These were large and more refined. Each one of them looked like they took months to erect. From what they saw, most of the buildings were low-rise style, stacked in an orderly fashion along the inner diameter of the settlement's great wall not unlike their own structural layout back home. At the moment, the young Emotion Pokémon sat on a long bench in the reception of what was known as the 'Comfort Inn.' The interior was impressive as well with a hard wood floor and a floral arrangement decorating the shelves situated along the walls and stairs on the far right beside the counter that led to the rest of the Inn. They waited patiently as their guardian, Edge, checked them all in at the counter where a smiling Chansey and a few Machoke stood behind and conversed with him.

"A bedroom to accommodate six, you say?" The Chansey asked with the happiest smile imaginable.

"Yes, please. When will it be ready, if I may ask?" Edge smiled back politely at the friendly Egg Pokémon and placed a small bag of money on the counter top. "My students and I are quite fatigued. Been a long day, you see."

"About twenty minutes to give our staff time to move the furniture around and install the bunk beds." The Chansey turned and addressed the burly fighting types behind her. "Room Forty Four, boys. Three bunk beds, chop-chop."

"Yes ma'am!" The Machoke ran out from their positions behind the counter and up the stairs to get Edge's new room ready.

Looking back at the Gallade, the Chansey gave him a closed eye smile. "Your room will be ready soon. Until then, please feel free and enjoy our Berry Juice Bar." The normal type drew Edge's attention to a door on the left wall that led to the Inn's bar. "We'll call you when your room is ready. I hope you enjoy your stay at the Comfort Inn." The Chansey bowed and Edge bowed back before making his way back to his students.

"Everything done?" Gallant was the first to address their teacher.

"Our room is being prepared." Edge looked at his recovering student. "How are you doing, Stalwart?"

"You ever had a pokémon use Sweet Scent and Heal Pulse on you at the same time? That is the best..." Stalwart's eyes remained closed he and still had a smile on his face.

Intrepid stared at his friend a moment. "Hey, Edge... I've got this, uh, sharp pain in my shoulder-"

"Yeah, nice try, Intrepid." The Blade Pokémon shook his head. "Come on. There's a bar here so let's get a bite to eat in the mean time." Edge started walking towards the door to the bar and his students quickly followed after him.

Opening the door, the group came into by a large bar which was inhabited by various other patrons that evidently looked like they were enjoying their stay. Tables both large and small were occupied by many pokémon enjoying the food and drink offered by the establishment. The Comfort Inn certainly lived up to its name. At the end of the room was the main part of the bar where a pair of Ambipom bartenders expertly used their extra limbs to mix beverages for the patrons that chose to stand at the counter. Looking around, Edge spotted an empty table and motioned for his students to follow.

"Lively place." Valor commented, looking around.

"That's because it's night. The pokémon you see here are usually too busy running things during the day and this is the only time they can give themselves a break to chat like this." The group of psychic types sat on the seats around the unoccupied table and placed their bags on top of it. Edge waved his hand to a nearby Lopunny waitress wearing a red bow tie and she walked over to him with a smile on her face.

"Hey, cutie! Welcome to the Berry Juice Bar! Watcha gonna be having?" The Rabbit Pokémon tilted her head cutely to the side as she waited for the Gallade's order.

"Aprijuice and Lava Cookies all around, please." Edge returned her friendly smile with one of his own.

"Six Aprijuice and six helpings of Lava Cookies it is. B-r-b, boys!" The Lopunny winked at them before heading over to the back room to place their order, swaying her hips as she did.

"...Well. She was certainly friendly." Resolute commented, looking at the door the Lopunny had disappeared through.

"Her energy kind of reminds me of Sylvia." Gallant replied and Valor was all over that statement in an instant.

"You seem to like hanging around lots of girls, Gallant. Something you're not telling us?" Valor smirked at his friend from his seat beside him.

"Yes. When I'm an adult, I plan on marrying as many pokémon as I can, even those not in my egg group. The sole reason I hang around girls is so that I can shape them into my trophy wives." Everyone at the table looked at him in surprise and disbelief. Even Valor. "What? Is that not what you wanted to hear me say? No? Then please can it with the shallow accusations." Gallant gave his friend an irritated look.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Geez, I was kidding." Valor raised his arms in defense.

"If that were true, though? I would call you brave." Edge rested his cheek against his hand. "The stress that comes with handling so many girls at once would probably kill you at a young age. I would rather fight Arceus himself." The Kirlia would have dug deeper into their superior's statement but something else about him caught their attention.

"Um... Aren't you going to get that cleaned up?" Resolute pointed at the red colors staining parts of the underside of Edge's arms.

"Hm?" The Gallade tilted his head to look down at where the Kirlia was pointing. "Oh... This. Gallant?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember when you emptied the contents of your vial into that Vigoroth's mouth?" There was snickering around the table. They remembered that, alright. "Yes, yes. Do you still have that vial?"

"Yes, I do." Gallant opened his bag and presented the small empty bottle to his teacher.

Without moving an inch, the Blade Pokémon floated the vial over to him, removed the cap, lifted the dried blood in tiny flakes off his arms and discarded them into the small glass container. "Better?"

"Everyone else seems to think so." Intrepid smiled and looked around him which caused everyone else to do the same and notice a few pokémon staring at their table with surprised expressions as well as approving smirks from the more rowdy looking patrons.

"Oh don't mind them. A lot of them are probably from guilds."

"Guilds? What are those?" Gallant asked, interested.

"Hm? Oh that's right. You haven't heard of them yet, have you?" Edge straightened himself on his seat and faced his eager to learn students. "Guilds are small groups of pokémon that make it their duty to provide all kinds of services to the Pokémon Settlement. You could call them a kind of task force that use their abilities to handle jobs for other pokémon for a fee. For example, say someone lost their cargo in the Brilliant Meadow because for some reason or other and it's too dangerous for them to retrieve it themselves for fear of a wild pokémon attack. That pokémon can take their problem up with the Guild Collaboration Building located in the southern part of the settlement. There, after receiving a payment, the pokémon in charge will assign the job to the most qualified guild for the task, this being one for battle capable teams as well as tracking and retrieval teams. If the job is successful, the Guild Collaboration splits a percentage of the funds with the guild that completed the job."

"And if they fail?" Gallant asked.

"Then the guild involved doesn't get their cut and the client will have to be refunded a consolation fee. It obviously isn't good for business or reputation if that happens which is why guilds always push past their limits to make sure they see any and all jobs through. Since a lot of them get so much work done, you can imagine how experienced their members are. Quite possibly some of the strongest pokémon their respective realms have to offer."

The Kirlia all looked to each other before looking around them a second time but with much more interest. Now that they got a better look, they found that almost all pokémon in the room were fully evolved. Upon closer inspection, there wasn't a table that had different types of pokémon. Each table was occupied by pokémon of a single primary type. To their left was a table where a Serperior, a Sceptile and a Chesnaught sat. The Chestnaught in particular caught them staring but he just coolly smirked at them before continuing to converse with his allies. A few tables up sat a Charmeleon, a Blaziken and a very laid back looking Infernape that looked like they were having a good night if the laughter and the many empty cups were anything to go by.

"Hey, that one's head is on fire, that's new. So these pokémon all belong to guilds?" Gallant asked.

"Most of them, yes. Those grass types? They're called Guild Chartreuse and they've been around for as long as I've been coming to the settlement. Maybe even longer than that. They're known for their long streak of completed jobs and battle prowess."

"A team of grass types, huh? I thought grass types didn't have that much coverage." Valor commented but didn't look back at the table this time.

"The many pokémon that took them on and lost probably thought the same thing. There's a reason they have a large reputation in the Pokémon Settlement's guild circles." Edge took a quick peek at the table of grass types and then back to his students. "That Sceptile is named Saber. According to what I heard, there's few things faster than him and his blades are sharp enough to cut down even the thickest trees in one motion. Close quarters combat against him would be a terrible approach." The Gallade turned his gaze to the smug looking Regal Pokémon. "That Serperior is Serpentine. She has an ability that turns normally debilitating moves into buffs instead and the Chesnaught, Valiant, has body armor so tough that certain moves wouldn't work on him at all." Edge informed them.

The youngsters were surprised. From where they had seated, the grass types looked just like how any standard pokémon would look but according to their teacher, their docile disposition belied a ferocity that should be feared. Valor wanted to open his mouth to continue the conversation with his elder as he was also curious as to who the fire types beyond them were but the Lopunny had finally made her return with their order, plate in each paw.

"Sorry for the wait, boys!" The Lopunny energetically spun on one foot and placed a plate of twelve Lava Cookies followed by another plate of six cups of Aprijuice onto the table. "Enjoy!" The Rabbit Pokémon blew a kiss at them before taking her leave.

The group watched the jolly Lopunny strut her stuff away a second time before turning their attention to the prepared food. "I don't know about you guys but all this talking is making me hungry..." Intrepid stared at the plates laid out before them. "So these are Lava Cookies, huh? Never had one before. Never even heard of them before now, actually but I'll try anything once." The Emotion Pokémon picked up a Lava Cookie with both hands and took a small bite of it.

Gallant picked up his own baked good and inspected it, observing that it was fairly larger than any cookie he had ever seen. Larger than a poképuff even. "How is it, Intrepid? Good?"

"Really good. Like really, really good." The Kirlia started putting away his cookie at an alarmingly fast rate.

"Slow down, Intrepid. You'll choke." Gallant took more reserved bites off his Lava Cookie.

"Can't help it. Too good." Intrepid popped the last piece of his Lava Cookie into his mouth and drowned it with half a cup of Aprijuice.

"What are in these anyway?" Resolute asked, halfway done with his own. They were certainly delicious, that was certain and he could only guess their ingredients or method of preparation.

"They're made using a certain mix of blended berries and heated into a sort of short-cake. Because of the berries used, they always carry rich and healthy properties for any kind of pokémon." Edge used both his hands to hold his cup of Aprijuice and took a few gulps from it.

"So this meal is especially good for Stalwart here." Intrepid referred to his friend that was seated next to him, swallowing the last piece of his second cookie.

"Actually, I think I'm fine now." Stalwart raised his arm and the wraps around his torso came undone with his psychic power. Enough time had passed and his body now looked the same as it did when they were still in the Fairy Realm. It was like this for all pokémon in the amorphous egg group. Their bodies rarely bled and when they did, it wasn't for long. The most severe injury for him would be losing a limb or something but any other form of damage could be recovered on a cellular level just like fellow amorphous pokémon Reuniclus and Gastrodon, given enough time. Sure, the Ralts line looked cute and in some cases even beautiful but they were far from what most other pokémon thought they were.

"And the painkiller? Did that wear off, yet?" Resolute asked his fellow Kirlia.

"Unfortunately." Whatever it was that Edge gave him, it made him feel great but something that made one feel that good probably shouldn't be taken in bulk, he reasoned.

"Well it's good to have you back, Stalwart. It's a good thing you had your focus sash equipped or who knows what might have happened." Gallant smiled at his friend who smiled back. He was relieved. They all were.

The rest of the meal went on in silence. Edge and Intrepid had already eaten their share and were now cradling their empty cups between their hands as they waited for the rest of the group to finish. Some of the patrons had retired for the night, though a few of them had to be helped out by their companions, funnily enough. A little more time passed and eventually the rest of the team had also finished their meals. About time too as a Machoke entered the bar and after a little looking around, started to make his way towards them.

"Your room is now ready. Room Forty Four, second floor." The fighting type informed them after stopping in front of their table.

"Thank you. We'll be up shortly."

"Do have a good night, all of you." The Machoke gave them a toothy grin and a thumbs up before taking his leave back to the main part of the inn.

Edge got up and so did his students. Rummaging through his bag a little, he removed a few valuable shards and placed them on top of the table with a little tip for their waitress. "Come on. It's late. Let's retire to our room for the night."

Edge led the way back to the reception followed closely by the young Emotion Pokémon. Gallant in particular was pretty satisfied with the trip so far. Apart from Stalwart's injury, he couldn't really complain about the happenings of the day. They had learned new things from their training instructor and even had not one but two opportunities to test out how far along they were in their training. He brought up the rear of the group, looking around the bar one last time and meeting the gaze of the Sceptile that was still seated with his allies at their own table. The Forest Pokémon looked back at him but said nothing, instead clasping his claws underneath his chin with a thin twig in his mouth and levelled Gallant with a calculating glare. The Kirlia was intimidated for a moment before the Sceptile's frown suddenly turned into a smirk which caused his horns to tingle a little. Surprised, all Gallant could do was look forward as the group walked back into the reception. Standing at the threshold, Gallant chanced one more look back to find the grass type still had his reptilian eyes on him and so did the rest of the grass pokémon at the table. Not liking being stared down by three fully evolved pokémon, especially after what he had heard about them from his teacher, Gallant quickly retreated into the reception and caught up with the rest of the group.

* * *

Comfort Inn - Room Forty Four

"Woah, what are those!?" Intrepid looked around the room with a wide smile, noticing the three sets of beds with other beds stacked on top of them using wooden supports that lay on the left, right and back walls of the otherwise plain room. A small table in the center of the room where three candles were lit completed the look.

"Bunk beds." Edge said simply, walking in and tossing his bag onto the left bottom bunk before laying down on it himself.

With a flash, Intrepid teleported to the central top bunk. "So cool! Hey check me out, I reign supreme above you all! Now bow down to me, your lord and master- oof!" The Kirlia was suddenly struck in the face by a pillow thrown by Valor.

"Sorry, bro. You've been overthrown."

"Not without a fight, I haven't!" Intrepid made Valor's pillow as well as his own orbit around him before chucking one of them at his 'opponent.'

Valor just lifted one of his hands and the first pillow stopped in mid-air right in front of him. The force of the second pillow, however, was strong enough to knock him to the ground where he lay piled underneath them.

"Ha! Is this all the hero has to offer? Pathetic!" Intrepid boasted from his perch and started spinning in place on his bed. His victory was short-lived as Valor suddenly teleported behind him and wrapped his left arm around Intrepid's torso, restraining his arms and then holding up his right hand against his temple.

"One well placed psychic attack and your brain is toast. What say you, Intrepid?"

"Uh... I use Explosion, taking us both out!"

"You can't use Explosion."

"You don't know that."

"Well then in that case I have the Damp ability."

"I have Mold Breaker."

"I use Gastro Acid."

"I'm a steel type."

"It still works."

"What? No way, really?" Intrepid looked to their elder for confirmation and he nodded affirmative.

"Valor is right. Despite steel being normally immune to poison moves, Gastro Acid is an exception." Edge told his student.

"Well crud, no way..." The Kirlia with the twisted spoon dropped his head in defeat but he suddenly snapped back up and looked to his fellow Kirlia for aid. "Gallant! Lend a hand!"

Gallant just stared at him from the bunk above Edge's and shook his head no, not wanting any part of their silly game. He felt tired enough as it is.

"Looks like I win." Valor smugly stated.

"Yeah, whatever. Get off my bed." Since his friend had a firm grip on him, Intrepid teleported them both to the bottom bunk and left Valor there before retreating back to his spot on the top.

"Don't be such a sore loser, Intrepid. You were out planned. That's just how things end in a battle." Valor summoned his pillow from the floor and rested his head on it, turning to face the top bunk.

"I can't imagine how a battle between two dragons would rage on if that's the case. I mean like two incredibly intelligent and powerful dragons. From what I read, there's very little that can stand up to them. Like that Dialga guy Gallant mentioned." Intrepid played with his twisted spoon as he imagined such a scenario.

"They would probably take a good deal of the terrain with them." Resolute faced their teacher from the bunk underneath Stalwart's. "Hey, Edge. Ever fought a dragon?"

"No." Edge had already made himself comfortable on his bed, lounging on his back with one of his legs raised at the knee and both his arms behind his head.

"Why not?"

"Do I have to? It just never happened. I've never been to the Volcanic Summit and the dragons here are far more civilized and rational than wild dragons."

"I want to fight one after I evolve, I think. Like in a sparring match or something. Not a fight to the death or anything like that. I hear dragons are formidable in battle so I want to challenge one at least once. To test my skill, you know?" Valor said from his bed.

"I wanna see that. If only to see your overconfident body get tossed all over the place." Intrepid lowered his head over the edge of his bunk just to grin provocatively at his friend. Surprisingly, his comment was met with a blank expression.

"How about a challenge then, for after we all evolve? Not that any of us will actively go around looking for a fight but the first one to meet and knock out a dragon wins. What say you to that, hot-shot?" Valor's smug smile finally returned.

"Deal! Gallant?" Intrepid looked at the Kirlia that chose to be quiet the entire conversation.

"I don't plan on doing anything reckless or dangerous like you guys." Gallant closed his eyes as if to end the conversation but then one of his eyes opened and a small smile graced his features. "But if I do knock out a dragon, it would be nice to rub it in your faces."

"Count me in too." Resolute stated.

"And me as well." Stalwart was also excited at the prospect of achieving such a milestone.

Edge felt a positive sensation in his chest protrusion as he felt the excitement his students gave off in large waves. It was enough to make him happy against his will. There was their competetive spirit again. Even though the kind of bet they were making would be considered insane by some, their drive couldn't be denied and he was sure he wouldn't be able to talk them out of it. The most he could do for now was keep them safe and continue to train them in preparation for such events that he realized was one of the main reasons he took them under his wing. Looks like the training would be getting even more serious from this point on. But for now... "Get some sleep, everyone." Edge rolled to his side. "We have errands to run tomorrow." The Gallade used his telekinetic power to lift the candles off the table and shook them until the flames went out.

Deciding to do just that, the Kirlia all got comfortable and snug in their own beds, ready for a good night's sleep.

"Can you guys settle something for me first?" Gallant suddenly spoke up. "What's the best poképuff flavor?"

"Mint." They all answered.

"Thank you and goodnight."

* * *

Fairy Realm - Sana's Ceramic Store

"Alright, Angel. Try again but with a little more force." Sana folded her blue arms as she stood in front of the door to her work station. She had moved all her tools and ceramic creations to the sides of the room and on high shelves so that they wouldn't get in the way or accidentally damaged by her daughter's psychic power.

Angel exhaled audibly and looked at the lone ceramic pot that was placed a few meters ahead of her. There were a few scattered shards around it but not much else. She looked back at her mother who smiled and gave her a nod of encouragement. Facing back to the pot, Angel closed her eyes and her horns begun glowing. There was suddenly a strange, low humming noise in the room as the Kirlia collected a surplus of energy and bundled it around the pot without actually harming it. Seconds passed and Angel quickly started to show signs of fatigue. Her arms trembled and she bit her lower lip in concentration. After a little time passed, the humming sound in the room ceased and Angel finally opened her eyes. For a moment, nothing happened but after like a minute, the large psychic build-up Angel placed around the pot became unstable which caused the pot to shatter into smaller pieces from the pressure and join the mess that was around it.

"Hmm... Looks like you still can't manage a full power Future Sight without the aid of Calm Mind first. You're getting there, though." Sana walked over to her daughter and looked at what had become of her ceramic pot.

"Is this really Future Sight, though? I thought it had something to do with using our psychic power to warp reality to our favor and cause unforeseen damage to a target. At least that's what it looks like when I see you do it." Angel looked up at her mother, looking a little winded thanks to how many times she had to perform the attack.

Sana looked down at her daughter with a confused glance before smiling, amused. "Oh heavens, no... It's like I said. A great collection of energy is all that's required. All one has to do is store up energy and focus it on a single target. Observe." The Gardevoir floated another one of her pots in front of them and her eyes glowed for a moment. "Those psychic particles sort of bundle up around a solid target until they become a part of it and move as they do. But once I stop supplying the steady collection of energy, that energy becomes more and more unstable as the seconds roll by until..." There was a loud booming sound and hundreds of cracks appeared all over the pot before it collapsed into a broken heap with a clattering sound. "That energy finally melts down and causes an implosion around the target. It's all very simple. But I guess to the perspective of a pokémon unfamiliar with the move, it does look like we're changing the fabrics of law, doesn't it?"

"If only it was that easy." Angel rubbed her arm. She wasn't at the same level as her mother and from the way things looked, she was far from it. "I guess I didn't think that such a move would need so much psychic power and concentration. You make it look too easy."

"Well, practice makes perfect." Sana leaned down to rub the top of Angel's head. "I struggled with this technique when I was your age too. Just give it time, you'll get the hang of it."

Angel smiled before looking back at the clutter of broken pots in front of them. "I just feel bad about us having to use your products as dummies for my training."

"No need to worry, honey. I can make more later."

"But that means more work for you, mom."

"I said not to worry about it, dear. Let's end your training here for now." Sana took Angel's hand in her own. "Come on, it's late. Time for bed."

The Embrace Pokémon led her child out of her work room, through the main store, past behind the counter and into their bedroom. There she stretched out before sitting daintily on her bed, her daughter sitting on the smaller one opposite hers.

"So tired..." Angel laid back and faced the ceiling, yawning.

"Been a long day, hasn't it? Did anything interesting happen today?" Sana shifted her body weight onto her left arm.

"Not much. I spent most of my day going through my book with Sylvia. We got some food and relaxed in a clearing. Chatting about all sorts of stuff. Mostly debating about some theories we had about the legendaries we never knew about."

"Is that right? What kind of theories?" Sana curiously asked.

"Well for starters, Sylvia seems to think Dialga and Palkia have a sibling rivalry thing going on." Angel dead-panned. She couldn't believe she was even saying it. She also couldn't believe that she, herself, came dangerously close to accepting the Sylveon's crazy theory. Crazy enough that it got her mother laughing into her hand.

"It's good you have such an insightful friend, Angel. Sylvia always did bring a refreshing atmosphere with her wherever she went. You'd probably still be running around looking like a Gloom had you never befriended her." The Gardevoir giggled at her daughter's expense.

Angel wanted to open her mouth to argue but found that she really couldn't because her mother was completely right. Had she not been spending a lot of her time with her friend upbeat, there would have still been a lot of things she would shy away from. Large unfamiliar crowds still made her uncomfortable but she never felt that whenever she was with Sylvia. She was like an emotional crutch that Angel used to get over her social issues, sad as that sounded but she valued Sylvia's friendship all the same. "I guess you're right."

"Well of course I am. I wouldn't be a very good mother if I didn't know anything about my daughter, would I?" Sana offered the young Emotion Pokémon a gentle smile. "Any other news I should be aware of?"

Angel thought for a moment. The entire day was spent with her friend as she recalled. First they got a bite to eat, then they went through a few sections of her book, then they fell asleep there in the clearing. And then...

Sana's chest crest suddenly surged with fear and sorrow which threw her into alarm. She teleported from her bed and sat next to her suddenly trembling daughter who had wrapped her own arms around her and had her eyes shut. "Angel! Angel, what's the matter!?"

Angel's mind was assaulted with the shrieks of her tormentors and a vision of her home as a wasteland as she recalled the dream she had earlier today. The devastation. The screams of her dying allies. Sylvia's own death... The horrible demise of Lord Xerneas and the Fairy Realm. It was all a dream and she was already reassured by Fleur but such images simply did not go away.

The Embrace Pokémon put her hand on top of her child's head which caused her to look up and Sana saw fear in the Kirlia's otherwise beautiful amber eyes. "Angel... Did something happen today?" Their realm was the safest place for any fairy to be so the thought that her daughter experienced some sort of attack made her more than concerned. It also made her a furious.

The Kirlia shook a little from all the stress she was giving herself but looking up at her mother's comforting eyes made her settle down a little. "Sorry... Sorry, it's just... I had a bad dream earlier. A really bad dream. A dream that ended in the deaths of everyone and the destruction of the Life Tree. I don't even know what caused it or why I would have such a dream in the first place..." Angel took a few calming breaths. "I'm sorry... I'm fine now. It just isn't something I want plaguing my mind."

Sana just held her daughter close, relieved that no mortal danger had befallen her. It was strange, though. Since they lived in a paradise provided for them by their Lord, Xerneas, no pokémon in the fairy had ever experienced a nightmare as far as she could recall. Day by day they are all exposed to Xerneas' life giving waves. Not a negative energy to be felt for miles so Angel's sudden emotional plight had her flummoxed. A bad dream suddenly appearing out of the blue like that which clearly did visible damage to her daughter's psych. It sounded a little familiar...

"Mom?"

Sana blinked. It appeared that she had trailed off and it was now Angel's turn to have a concerned gaze. "Oh sorry, Angel. I got a little sidetracked. Are you fine, though? You gave me quite a scare..." The Gardevoir wrapped a comforting arm around the Kirlia.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Everything's fine. It's like Miss Fleur said when I met her in the Life Tree's garden. My dream will become a forgotten memory with time." Those weren't her exact words but they still made her feel better already.

Sana smiled down at her daughter. She was glad she had already been comforted even if that comfort wasn't coming from her. If anything, it was good to see she was opening up to more and more pokémon each day. Or month, whatever.

Giving her daughter one last squeeze of affection, the Gardevoir got up and made her way back to her bed and sat back down on it. She looked at her daughter who was mostly fine but still looked a little shaken. "Angel?"

The Kirlia looked up at her mother. "Yes, mom?"

"Would you like to sleep on my bed tonight?"

"...Okay." Angel got up, walked over to her mother's bed and laid down on it, nestling against her after she made some room. "Goodnight, mom."

"Goodnight, Angel." Sana kissed the top of her daughter's head before closing her eyes, ready to get some sleep, herself.

"Mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Sylvia and I got some berries from Miss Fiore and they were really good." Angel wrapped up her story.

Sana smiled and held her daughter closer. "That's good to hear."

* * *

Pokémon Settlement - The Next Morning

Edge fastened the strap of his bag around his waist as he watched his students do the same with theirs. It had been a good night, indeed and they were now all rested and energized once again. Looking left to right, he found all his students done packing and looking back at him expectantly. "Everyone ready?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." They all answered.

"So are we going to finally make a requisition for Dawn Stones?" Gallant asked excitedly.

Edge nodded. "That's right. Our destination this morning will be the Stone Emporium. It's a few buildings from this one. We will make our request for Dawn Stones there. If we're lucky, we just might find them in stock but I'm doubtful as Dawn Stones and others of the like are extremely rare."

"Fingers crossed." Valor chimed in.

"I hope by any chance you haven't left anything behind?" The Kirlia all shook their heads. "Alright, let's go."

Edge opened the door and ushered his students out and following after them. Walking down the flight of stairs, the group made their way back to the reception to see that the Chansey from the previous night had already taken her place behind the counter. She certainly took her job seriously. There were few who chose to get up at this hour. Heck, if they were still in the Fairy Realm, they would still be asleep, themselves.

The Chansey looked up at them and gave them a bright smile. "Good morning! I do hope you had a most pleasant night?"

"We did, thank you." Edge replied.

"Good!" The Chansey said with a little hop. "I couldn't forgive myself if you were dissatisfied with our services. Why, the thought itself is unacceptable."

"Everything was fine, I assure you."

"That's good then. Please come back to the Comfort Inn any time." The Chansey bowed.

"Yes, thank you." The Gallade returned the bow and so did the Kirlia.

With the formalities were out of the way, the group exited the Comfort Inn and stepped into the settlement's main streets. Now that it was morning, the young Emotion Pokémon could see just how busy the Pokémon Settlement was. Flying pokémon soared above while other pokémon moved along the streets at different paces, each of them having different goals or meetings while others simply walked side by side and chatted with one another. They had never seen so many pokémon in one place before. They had never seen so many tall buildings either. Many pokémon walked in and out of the various establishments that seemed to go on past their line of vision.

"Look at this place..." Valor looked around him in awe as he walked with his friends. "It's got to be like three times the size of home. Maybe even more than that."

Gallant looked around as well, fascinated with the architecture and the population. The pokémon responsible for building this place more than deserved some kind of grand award. He would clap his hands if it didn't make him look awkward in front of everyone.

"It's quite something, isn't it?" Edge spoke from behind them. "Since pokémon of a different type can not enter another type's realm without potentially endangering themselves or sparking a conflict, this place was built as a means for pokémon from all over the world to communicate. Lots of services from different realms that would otherwise be unavailable are offered here. Heart Scales from Still Lake, Evolution Stones from the Seismic Highlands, rare berries and flowers from our own realm and the Grass Realm. The Pokémon Settlement has it all."

The young fairies all looked at the commotion around them in wonder but there was something else on Gallant's mind. "Hey, Edge... How come we've never heard of guilds until just yesterday? Has no one back home ever been interested in that sort of thing?"

"You can say that... The Fairy Realm has always lived in the paradise Lord Xerneas provided us with for as long as I can remember, so we've never had to worry about any shortcomings. Ours is a land of peace and the reason we train is to uphold that peace if something was ever to befall our realm, Arcues forbid. I'm sure it's like this for other realms, although I'm not certain. We live a comfortable life so I guess it just never happened. Why? Are you interested?"

Gallant thought on that for a moment. "Yeah... You can say that I am."

"I can take you all to the Guild Collaboration Building and see what it's like later on if you want. That sound okay?" Edge offered.

Gallant smiled and nodded his head happily. "Sure."

The group pressed on along the main street until they stopped in front of an impressive looking building which had a sign that arched above the door that read 'Stone Emporium.' Edge stepped forward and opened the entrance for them, an act which caused a bell on the inside to jingle when struck slightly by the door, alerting the clerk behind the counter at the end of the room.

"Ah! More customers! Welcome to the Stone Emporium!" The Kecleon greeted with an upbeat personality. "Well, if it isn't Edge... Been a while since we last saw each other. Please..." The Color Swap Pokémon beckoned them over.

The small group looked around the room. A few other pokémon including a group of Roselia and a small group of Eevee led by a Jolteon had visited the store as well and were currently inspecting the glass cases which held various evolution stones that rested along the walls. Reaching the counter, the Blade Pokémon greeted the store clerk proper.

"Good morning, Forest. You've been well, I take it?"

"Very well. As you can see, business has been good." The Kecleon named Forest informed. "Now, what can I do for you and your little friends?"

"Dawn Stones. Five of them. They're for my students here." Gallant brought Forest's attention to the young Emotion Pokémon.

"Ah I see. All ready to evolve are we?" The Kirlia all smiled and nodded. "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but we're all out." The Kecleon said while still maintaining his smile. The same couldn't be said for the fairy types in front of him who scowled in irritation at getting their hopes up only to get shot down. They were just about to start spinning in happiness too... "Now, now, don't be like that, children. Leave it to your friend, Forest here." It was totally too late to call himself their friend. "I'll get you those Dawn Stones in no time... As long as expenses are met?" Forest looked back up to the Gallade.

"That won't be a problem at all." Edge reached into his bag, pulled out a small bulging sack that was tied tied at the top and offered it to the Kecleon. "Herein lies twenty-five nuggets. I assume we can now arrange for those Dawn Stones?"

"My, my. Haven't we been busy? Sorry to say but the price of Dawn Stones went up so you're short of another twenty-five nuggets. I'm afraid I can't accept your money."

The Kirlia looked like they were about to have a panic attack but Edge just placed a hand on his hip and levelled the Kecleon with an impatient look.

"Fine, fine." The Kecleon placed the sack of gold nuggets behind the counter. "You never could take a joke, Edge."

"This is a place of business, is it not?"

"That it is." The Color Swap Pokémon reached behind the counter a second time and placed a blank sheet of paper on the counter top. Reaching to his side, he took a quill that was sitting in a small glass of ink and used it to scribble something onto the plain sheet then placed it into an envelope. Done, Forest placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. A moment later, a Chatot emerged from one of the back rooms through a flap located above the door designed specifically to his size and landed on the wooden counter next to the normal type. "Please take this to the Postal Center, Songbird. It is to go to the Ground Realm."

"Yes, sir." The Chatot saluted with a wing before taking the envelope in his beak and flying out a window to the Postal Center.

"If things go well, you'll have your brand new Dawn Stones in one to two days. Just be sure to have Jubilee check in. Anything else?"

"That is all, thank you. Come on, guys. We're leaving. Until next time, Forest." Edge bid his farewell.

"Looking forward to your next visit." Forest waved and turned his attention to the Jolteon that was next in line. It was carrying a bag of Thunder Stones and the Eevee around it all looked eager.

"Lucky." Intrepid pouted, exiting the building along with his friends.

"No need to be upset. I already mentioned that Dawn Stones are very rare and that it would be unlikely to find them in stock. It will be a little delayed but you will have them eventually." Edge turned around and faced his students with a smirk. "But on a more important note, congratulations to all of you. Mission accomplished. You handled the trip here better than I thought you would. The way you handled your battles on the way was also quite impressive for stage one pokémon. You've come a long way since you first started training as Ralts. I'm proud of you all." A positive feeling resonated from his now smiling students and it was enough to make him more happy than he already was. "We aren't necessarily in a rush so how about we kill a little time before heading back home? Gallant, you said you wanted to visit the Guild Collaboration Building?"

Gallant grinned in excitement and nodded but then suddenly remembered something important. "Oh, wait! Before that, can we visit the Postal Center first? I need to deliver Angel's letter."

"Very well. That's in the eastern part of the settlement. It's located among the inner ring of buildings."

"How will we get there, though? This place is huge." Stalwart pointed out.

Edge just gave them a cool smirk. "Follow me. There's something I want to show you." Edge turned and lead them on, this time walking between buildings like he was heading towards the epicenter of the large city. The group travelled a small distance until they came up to a large elevated slab where various other pokémon stood like they were waiting for something. Walking up a small flight of stairs, the psychic types stood on the platform along with the other pokémon and the Kirlia beheld a large half-pipe that stretched far and appeared to make a full circle in the area between the inner and outer formations of buildings.

"What is this place? What's with all these pokémon?" Valor asked his teacher.

"This is a station. All these pokémon are waiting." Edge answered.

"For what?" Resolute asked.

At that moment, the ground beneath them started to shake and a rumbling noise was heard in the distance. The noise got louder as whatever that was making it got closer and closer until an Onix emerged from around the corner, moving at a brisk pace within the half-pipe and carrying a platform fastened to its back. A platform that had railing supports and an awning which provided the passenger pokémon underneath it with shade. The Onix gave a mighty roar as it slowed down and pulled up next to the slab where the psychic types and the rest of the large group were waiting. "Northern Pokémon Settlement. Please be careful when getting on and off the platform." The Onix called with his large voice as his passengers offloaded.

"Come on. This big guy is our ticket to the rest of the settlement." Edge, his students and the other pokémon gathered climbed onto the platform after room was made.

"Okay this? This is awesome." Intrepid was giddy with excitement.

"You can say that again." Gallant agreed with his friend.

"Okay this-"

"No, Intrepid."

With all his new passengers on board, the Onix begun to pull from the station along the route, gradually picking up speed until he was speeding down the curving half pipe. The buildings flew by as the rock type hit close to his top speed. This was the best mode of transportation for pokémon that were either too tired or too slow to get around the Pokémon Settlement by themselves and the Onix was more than happy to offer his services. A few minutes later and the ferried crowd finally slowed to a stop at the eastern station where more pokémon were looking to get a ride as well. "We have arrived at the eastern station. Please mind your step."

Stepping off the platform, the pokémon all walked down the steps, to the main streets and branched into smaller groups each going their separate ways.

Edge and his crew in particular got off on the other side of the platform than when they first stepped on, now in the inner district of the settlement and were now on their way to the Postal Center.

"Come on. The Postal Center is this way." Edge led the five fairy types down the road and continued to walk passed the many buildings.

"This place looks even better than the outer ring." Gallant observed, noticing the trees and other fauna that had been planted at the edges of the stone road. Another small feature was that these buildings faced outward instead of inwards like the outer ring.

"The inner district focuses more on business than the outer one which focuses on more on lodging so the place was designed to look welcoming in order to attract more customers." Edge informed them.

"Well they did a really good job. But I'm sure Miss Fleur has this place beat." Valor looked around, impressed.

"I agree. If Miss Fleur used her gardening skills to add more flair, who knows how fantastic this place would look." Resolute chimed in.

"She always knew how to make anything look good with flowers. I mean just look at the garden around the Life Tree." Intrepid played with his twisted spoon a little as we walked alongside his friends. "There isn't a pokémon I know that can decorate better than she can."

"I had no idea you guys loved Fleur's work to such a degree. I'm sure she would be happy to hear that she has such admirers." Edge commented as he walked.

"It's true, though. She's no doubt the best in that department. I would even go as far as to say she can take care of a Lilligant's flower better than a Lilligant itself can. Those were her own words, actually..." Gallant placed a hand under his chin.

Edge laughed a little. It seemed the Florges was a little too confident in her abilities but no one could really blame her. If he could grow plants easier than he could eat food, he'd brag about it too. "Okay this is it." The Blade Pokémon stopped in front of a tall building with a sign above the door that read 'Pokémon Settlement Postal Center.'

"Is everything in this place huge?" Intrepid asked.

"Yes. Come on." Edge opened the door and led the adolescents in.

"Aaaaaand more counters. This place is like ninety percent business or something..." Valor quipped. The building was a large rectangular shaped one with a series of booths at the back that spanned across the entire room from which various pokémon attended several clients.

"Pretty much." Edge walked further into the establishment and turned Gallant's attention to one of the booths where an Azumarill standing on top of a Vaporeon in order to reach the Ambipom attendant were wrapping up. "Go on, Gallant. We'll wait for you here."

"Sure." Gallant nodded and walked up to the booth, standing behind the pair of water types as he waited his turn.

"So you're gonna, like, make sure our letter totally reaches our friend, right?" The Azumarill spoke with a distinct feminine accent.

"No worries, Miss. I'll see that it gets delivered." The ambidextrous normal type accepted the Aqua Rabbit's letter and placed it in a cabinet behind his counter.

"Thanks! Come on, Auqamarine. Let's go get us some poképuffs."

"I'm all over that." The Vaporeon giggled and walked away from the booth with the Azumarill still on her back.

Gallant watched them go with a fixated look on his face. "Why does that look familiar..? Oh well..." The Emotion Pokémon shrugged and made his way up to the booth. "Um, good morning."

"Good morning." The Ambipom smiled down at Gallant. "What can I help you with?"

"I would like to have this delivered, please." The Kirlia removed the rolled up parchment Angel gave him and read the small description written on the outside. "It's going to the Fighting Realm."

"Not a problem at all. The sending fee is five shards."

"Sure." Gallant reached into his bag, pulled out the requested number of shards and paid the Long Tail Pokémon who quickly put them along with his friend's parchment behind the counter.

"Would that be all?"

"Yes, thank you." Gallant smiled appreciatively at the Ambipom.

"You're quite welcome. The Fighting Realm's postal representative will be here shortly so your item will delivered in due time. Have a good day, now."

"You too. Thanks again." Gallant spun once and bowed to the attendant before making his way back to the group.

"Things went well, I assume?" Valor asked his friend.

"Yeah. We're done here."

"Cool. Now we can head over to that place where guilds gather." Intrepid said excitedly.

"Ah yes. The Guild Collaboration." Edge nodded to his students. "Come on. We're heading back to the station."

"Jollies."

* * *

Southern Settlement - Guild Collaboration Building

"Woah. Check out all these pokémon. Check out this place." Valor commented, looking around.

His friends walked up next to him and joined him in admiring the establishment. A counter (figures) was at the end of a room behind which sat a red, blue, green and yellow Kecleon. Tables were situated about the lower floor where different kinds of pokémon sat in a way similar to what they saw back at the Comfort Inn. Stairs on either side of the room led up to the second floor of the building where a few more pokémon stood in front of a large notice board that had many documents pinned on it.

"This is the Guild Collaboration Building, everyone. Pokémon from different realms gather here to take offered jobs and share ideas with other guilds. The pokémon you see here are all experienced in certain fields and use their expertise to take care of tasks given to them. See that board up there? Those documents are all job offers given by pokémon in need. If a guild sees a job they know they can handle, they take it up with the guild masters, those Kecleon and after getting the full details, that guild can then execute the job. If they're successful, the client pays the job fee and the guild splits the reward with the guild masters who go on to use that money to fund themselves in order to pay other pokémon of respective types to look for new jobs and support the building. It's a cycle of profit, one can say. Jobs are ranked using a star system counting from one to five. One star means just about any pokémon with any kind of experience can complete the job. Five star jobs are much more difficult and are better left for the far more experienced guilds." Edge explained to his aspiring students.

Gallant looked away from his teacher and up at the notice board with peaked curiosity. "Can we go up and have a look?" He hopefully asked.

"Well, I suppose-"

"Edge? Is that you?"

The addressed fighting type turned his head and faced an approaching Alakazam who spoke with a calm, calculating tone. Curious, the Gallade turned his entire body around and greeted the psychic type that seemed to know him. "Hello. Pardon my being rude but have we met?"

"We have. I suppose your confusion is justified considering the last time we met, I had yet to evolve so allow me to re-introduce myself. I am Xanatos." The Alakazam placed an arm horizontally in front of his chest and gave a polite bow.

"Xanatos..." A bell went off in Edge's head and his eyes widened. "No kidding? Dear Arceus, has it been that long? I don't even recognize you. How have you been?" The Gallade returned the bow.

"Quite well, my friend. And who might these young ones be?" The psychic type looked down at the Kirlia that couldn't help but feel small under the Psi Pokémon's gaze. Even from where they stood, they could feel the power that was hidden behind his polite personality.

"My students. I begun training them a little after our first meeting a few years back. They are the reason we're in the Pokémon Settlement in the first place. We had just come from making an arrangement to acquire Dawn Stones."

"Mm-hmm..." Xanatos rubbed his moustache as he studied the young fairy types in front of him. "Passing down your skills to the younger generation are you? It's good to know you've kept yourself busy. Come, let us sit down. I would very much like to trade stories with an old acquaintance."

"It would be my pleasure." Edge turned to face his students. "Have a look around the place, guys. I'm going to go chat for a bit. Tell me when you're ready to leave."

"Yes, sir." They all answered, watching as Edge walked away with the Alakazam.

"Come on. Let's check this place out while those two reminisce." Gallant restrained himself from flat-out running up the steps and simply walked up the flight of stairs in a more dignified manner.

Upon reaching the second floor, the small group wasted no time in inspecting the large board. Like Edge said, each of them was marked by a drawing of one to five stars, depending on the difficulty of the job. Walking up, Gallant begun read out the available jobs.

"Needed: A helping hand in fossil excavation in Rugged Peaks. Pays thirty shards, two stars. Help: A sudden swarm of Durant infesting the Spirit Peaks. Assistance required in dwindling their numbers, preferably from fire types. Pays two big nuggets, three stars. Help: A rare and valuable stone was lost in Spectral Forest that needs to be returned to the Ghost Realm. See guild masters for details. Pays one nugget, one star. Needed: Five or more heart scales to aid with training in the Fighting Realm. Pays three nuggets, one star. Help: A Hydreigon and Salamence have been wreaking havoc in the Seismic Highlands, making civilian travel and mining near impossible. Pays- hey!" Gallant would have liked to finish reading but that specific sheet was ripped off the notice board by a familiar looking Blaziken accompanied by a Charmeleon and Infernape.

"Sorry, kid but duty calls and this job is right up our alley." The Blaziken and his allies went down the stairs in order to inform the guild masters that they had accepted the job.

"What's an alley?" Intrepid asked.

"No idea." Resolute answered.

"On a more important note, that job said that mining is almost impossible with those dragons terrorizing the Seismic Highlands which, according to Edge, is right outside the Ground Realm. That's where that Forest idiot told that bird to mail the letter. Does that mean our Dawn Stones will be delayed?" Valor asked worriedly which alerted his friends to the potentially dire situation.

"Oh crap, what if it takes too long and we evolve into Gardevoir instead?" Intrepid grabbed and shook his friend.

"That's not so bad."

"Liar! It's bad and you know it! We didn't train on the physical side of the spectrum to evolve into Gardevoir. A physical Gradevoir? Who's ever heard of that!? We've come too far to turn back now, dude! This bad! This is- mph!"

Valor shut his panicking friend up by cramming his twisted spoon into his mouth. "Calm down, Intrepid, you're making a scene. Besides, I'm sure those fire types will have everything sorted out."

"Listen to your friend, kid." The Kirlia all turned around to see a Sceptile walking up to them. Or more specifically, the large notice board as he wasn't even looking at them. "Your plight is what gives us guilds motivation. Worry not, for you will have your precious Dawn Stones." The Sceptile stood in front of the board and skimmed through the list of available jobs.

Gallant gave the Sceptile a good look until he finally remembered who he is and was able to identify him. "Hey... You're Saber."

"Funny... I don't recall ever giving you my name." The Forest Pokémon now stared at the Kirlia with a quizzical expression.

"Uh... No, you didn't... We heard about you from our trainer. Your name came up when he spoke about guilds." Gallant hoped he didn't offend the fully evolved grass type.

"Is that so?" Saber leaned down to their level and inspected them before standing back up. "Ah, yes. You lot are the pokémon from last night who wouldn't stop staring at our table. I did not mind but my team-mate, Serpentine, thought it was rude." The Kirlia looked at each other embarrassed. "No cause for concern. The Gallade you were with, is he not here with you?"

"Not at the moment, no." Gallant answered for them. He wanted to tell the Sceptile it was rude to pry like this but held his tongue since he and his friends were guilty of the same thing.

The Sceptile cocked his head to the side. It seemed the young pokémon weren't under supervision and if that was true he wondered what their reason for being here was. "Tell me. Are you all planning to start a guild? I see no other reason as to why you would be in this building otherwise."

"Curiosity?" Intrepid ventured.

"We had only heard about guilds last night and we had our teacher bring us here so we could see what it's like. Nothing more than that." Gallant explained.

"Oh. Well that's disappointing." Saber said, surprising them. "It would have been nice to know that more pokémon would be fighting for a greater cause since every bit helps nowadays."

"A greater cause? Like what?" Valor asked.

"Keeping the world free from threats, of course." Saber simply said. "The guilds here don't just fight for a profit. There are much bigger reasons than that. The dragons in the Seismic Highlands. The Durant in the Spirit Peaks. Wild pokémon tend to act on instinct and that instinct usually drives them into attempting to expand their territories. Even if it means attacking a realm, they can and will if they aren't taken care of quickly. A majority of these jobs are caused by wild pokémon attacks, believe is or not. It's not just the wild pokémon either. You heard that the legendary pokémon Tornadus and Thundurus recently assaulted the Tempest Peaks, have you not?"

"No, we haven't heard of any of this. We don't know who those pokémon are either..." The Kirlia never would have guessed that the world was ever in such a state of continuous conflict. Living in the Fairy Realm, they never had to worry about any sort of attack and only fought to keep their own land safe.

"You haven't? At all?" The Forest Pokémon was genuinely surprised. Legendary pokémon attacking the areas right outside their homes was a big tip off. He didn't think he would ever run into pokémon so wilfully oblivious to the happenings of the world. "Well I don't know what kind of closed circle you come from but the world is under far more turmoil than your ignorant lifestyles would have you believe." It didn't sit well with him to think that while many good pokémon risked their lives everyday, others just sat in their homes unaware of their sacrifice. He noticed the Kirlia all had startled expressions and he realized his emotions were getting the better of him. Sighing, he whipped out a small twig from seemingly nowhere and placed it in his mouth. "It seems you and I have absolutely nothing left to talk about. I bid you all a good day." Saber grabbed a five star job off the board without even reading the description and made his way passed the fairy types but stopped to face them before he could walk down the stairs. "Know that those fire types are putting their lives on the line so that you can have your Dawn Stones delivered. I hope they do not go to waste... And if they fall in battle, I hope that it will not be in vain." With those parting words, the Sceptile walked down the flight of stairs.

Now alone, the Kirlia all looked back at each other. None of them knew what to say. What could they say? It wasn't everyday you were told that there were battles that took place right at your doorstep. The Sceptile named Saber obviously hailed from the Grass Realm which also branched off from the Brilliant Meadow just like their own realm. Was it safe to assume that the reason the Brilliant Meadow was usually in a state of calm was his guild's doing? And what he said about those legendaries. For them to freely attack the various lands... Did that mean they were voluntarily malevolent? If so who's to say that there aren't other legendaries they've never heard of with the same mindset? Legendaries that could attack at any time and were too powerful to stop... The thought of waking up to a ruined world just because they knew nothing of what transpires beyond their border chilled them to the core.

"Come on." Gallant said. "Let's head back down. I think I'm ready to leave."

Agreeing, his friends followed him as they made their way back to the first floor, what they were told forever etched in their minds.

* * *

Guild Collaboration, First Floor - Around the same time.

"So how are things back in the Psychic Realm?" Edge asked curiously. The two psychic types sat comfortably on opposite sides of the table as they enjoyed each other's company. Both having stories to share since their first meeting in the settlement.

"Very well, thank you." Xanatos answered. "Our queen works hard to support us and maintain our home as the brilliant city it is. We could not be any more at ease."

"Ah yes, Cresselia. Through her endeavors, your kind are able to live in the sky free from the pressures that plague us land folk." Edge said in a joking manner.

The Alakazam laughed gently as he took the comment in stride. "I'm sure Xerneas works just as diligently in using his life giving power to keep his precious fairies safe." He stroked his chin. "It has been a while has it not, Edge? It seems like almost years since our first meeting right here in the Pokémon Settlement."

"By 'first meeting,' you mean my humiliating eighty-six losses in, what did you call it? Chess? Yes, I remember that quite well. You were still a Kadabra at the time, as I recall. Maybe a Metagross would have made for a better opponent." The Blade Pokémon laughed. "So what brings you to the settlement, Xanatos? Business?"

"You can say that, yes. Her Lady, Cresselia, tasked my partner, a Slowking, and I in distributing some of her Lunar Wings to the settlement. She did not even ask us to sell them. Just to give them out to as many pokémon as we could. We had split up, my partner and I. He handled the upper half of the city while I gave out as many as I could to the lower half."

Edge blinked in surprise at the news. "For sure? Just like that?"

"Indeed." The Alakazam nodded slowly. "She did not give a reason behind such an order but we were sent to this city to carry out the task our queen, Cresselia had given us. All she said was that it was of great importance that we give as many pokémon as we can pieces of her magnificent wings."

The Blade Pokémon thought on that for a moment. It was uncommon for a legendary pokémon, one from another realm where they had their own responsibilities no less, to share their gifts with second party pokémon. There was only one reason he could think of that would allow the fabled Cresselia to freely share her Lunar Wings with others but he didn't want to acknowledge it. "You don't think..?"

"Please hold your tongue, my friend. Word spreads fast in the Pokémon Settlement and we do not want to cause unnecessary panic to the masses. What with things the way they are now."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you not heard? Two of the Forces of Nature recently attacked the Tempest Peaks. The residents of Flying and Electric Realms were able to fend them off for a while and are currently working together to restore the damage done to the outskirts of their homes. 'Tis a shame that such powerful but selfish pokémon are allowed to run amok as they do. Landorus certainly has his hands tied."

Edge blinked in surprise and then sighed with his eyes closed. Of course he wouldn't know that. The Fairy Realm was a land that kept to itself because they had the mindset that the Life Tree provided for them and kept them safe from any and all threats but one couldn't really blame them because that was true. Living in a land of peace, the fairy types under Xerneas' jurisdiction never really had to bother with the outside world unless they needed something specific that could not otherwise be found in the realm. Beyond that, they were mostly invisible to everyone else. Now here Edge was, being told that legendary pokémon were running rampant, attacking everything in sight and he had no idea. It made him feel locked out of the loop.

"Is everything alright, Edge?" Xanatos asked with concern at the behavior his friend was showing.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the Blade Pokémon opened his eyes and faced the Alakazam in front of him. "Yes, thank you. Just surprised me with that news is all. So... Are you done with your errands? I don't see any of the Lunar Wings you spoke of with you."

The Psi Pokémon nodded. "Yes. I had given away the last of the wings to some of the guilds here. I was, in fact, just about leave so I could meet up with my psychic peer when I saw you and figured I could go for a quick chat with an old acquaintance while I am here."

Edge smiled. "Well it's been a pleasant experience for me, I thank you. It's always good to sit down with a friend like this. Especially since we rarely get to see each other. I'm not sure when our next meeting would be after we part ways."

"Soon, I hope. If our agendas don't get too much in our way." The two mature pokémon shared a small laugh and Xanatos turned his gaze to the upper level. "It appears your students are done admiring the establishment. I take it you will be now taking your leave?"

"Looks like it." Edge nodded and watched as his students walked down the stairs and towards the table he had occupied with his friend. "You guys done?"

The Kirlia all nodded and he sensed that they were in a more sombre mood than when he last saw them. He didn't question them, though. At least he chose not to do so in a crowded place. Perhaps they'll have a chat later.

"Okay. Let's hit the road then." Edge and Xanatos both got up, ready to leave. "It was good seeing you again, Xanatos."

"The feeling is mutual, Edge." The two shook hands and exchanged smiles. "Until next time my friend." With that, the Alakazam was engulfed in a bright light and he teleported out of the building.

Edge let out a breath as he made his way to the exit of the building, followed closely by his students. The news Xanatos had left him with gave him a lot to think about. Tornadus and Thundurus' attack on the Tempest Peaks and, more importantly, Cresselia's insistence that her Lunar Wings which have the power to grant pleasant dreams as well as protect the holder from nightmares be freely given away as if they were free samples. There was one and only one reason he could come up with that would cause Cresselia to take such action. If he was indeed in the area, it would spell rough nights for all those that were unable to get their hands on some of the Lunar Wings and that was an understatement.

Now outside, Edge turned to face his students who looked like they had a lot on their mind. "Anything you want to say before we leave? We can't hide our emotions from each other so there's no need to pretend like everything is alright."

The young fairies all looked at each other and back to their elder. "Just one question, Edge." Gallant spoke up. "Did you know that the pokémon living near the Tempest Peaks and Seismic Highlands were suffering?"

The Gallade blinked in surprise. They had heard about that too? Also, what was this about suffering in the Seismic Highlands? It appeared his students had gotten their hands on some news, themselves and he figured that's what was putting them in a bad mood. Still, their red eyes stared up at him, waiting for an answer. "No. I only just now heard about that, myself. What of it?"

"Nothing... We were just curious." Only that wasn't it at all. It seemed even their elder hadn't a clue. What happened to 'I'm an adult, I know a lot of stuff?' They were actually kind of angry. Saber's words still ate at their minds. The thought that pokémon were right now risking their lives outside the settlement for them who knew nothing about that until very recently made them feel like they were taking the world for granted. It made them sick to think that while hard-working pokémon were busy with their jobs, they were sitting comfortably at home, living the happy life without a care in the world. If they had not come on this trip and acquired Dawn Stones the easy way through Jubilee, the would have still been oblivious to all they were told. If the guild that took the job to fight the dragons fell in battle, they would not have even known. Instead just glad that they could finally evolve, blissfully ignorant smiles plastered across their damn faces while the pokémon that made it possible went forgotten and unappreciated. It made them feel like crap.

Edge knew that it wasn't simple curiosity as his sensitive chest protrusion could attest to. Something had happened that made them feel this way... But if they were unwilling to talk, he couldn't really force them. "If that's all then let us return to the Fairy Realm."

"...Shouldn't we head back to North Eastern Gate then?" Valor asked.

Edge gave him a confused look. "Well I was going to suggest we teleport back home but if you want to haul yourself through the Brilliant Meadow again, be our guest."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Valor pouted. "You could have phrased it better."

"Where's the fun in that?" Intrepid smirked and it earned him a glare.

"Alright, enough funny stuff. Come on, everyone hold hands." It wasn't necessary but they all did as they were told. Since the Fairy Realm was miles away, a higher exertion of psychic power and concentration was needed. With their bodies all connected, Edge performed the mass teleportation. He would have allowed the Kirlia to do it on their own but it was much faster and safer this way. The area around them was enveloped in a bright glow and after a few seconds, they were gone, leaving no trace of their existence. One thing was for certain though. This trip had changed the psychic types' outlook on the world forever.

* * *

END CHAPTER


	6. Chapter 6 - Things to Come

Buying. Selling. Trading. That's what the Pokémon Settlement was all about. Pokémon from different realms coming together to offer their services in exchange for others, pushing their ever expanding relationships forward. The busy streets of the settlement were occupied by many of its residents, taking advantage of the early morning to engage in their personal activities as was always the case. Because of the large city's vast population of pokémon from all over the world, there was nothing one couldn't acquire from here. Berries, potions, battle items, evolution stones, simple treats, the place had it all. Murmuring crowds both large and small walked at their leisure about the streets for different reasons. Some to shop, some to open shop and others simply out enjoying a walk. Out of the crowd, two specific pokémon stood out, both fire types. They filtered through the other pokémon with deliberate steps, appearing to be in a rush and looking to collect crucial items with what little time they had. Items that one of them insisted would help with a job they accepted earlier, coming to a stop in front of a building with a sign that read 'Herbal Store.'

"Remind me why we had to come all the way here again? I thought we're suppose to be heading straight for the Seismic Highland." The smaller of the duo said as he and his company entered the shop.

"Not yet. We're a little low on supplies so we need to stock up." His partner explained, walking towards some shelves directly to his left from the entrance.

"From the Herbal Store? You and I both know that this stuff tastes terrible."

"Maybe. But this store has what other medicine stores don't that we might need for the trip." The Blaziken picked a few Revival Herbs from the shelf and quickly made his way to the counter, talking to his ally, a Charmeleon along the way. "Besides, check it out..." He raised the transparent plastic bag of medicine so his fellow fire type could have a better look at it. Instead of seeing some kind of powder, he instead saw what he thought were seeds of some sort. "They started grinding regular Revival Herbs and packing them into these capsules so we don't have to taste them anymore but still get their benefits."

"Oh really? That's pretty neat."

"Damn right, it's neat. Because of this simple change, the Herbal Store's popularity went up really fast. It now gives other stores a run for their money. To think that something so practical went ignored just because of its taste. Pokémon sure are picky." The Blaziken placed the medicine on the counter along with a few shards which the Audino behind it happily accepted. Nodding in gratitude to her, the Blaziken and Charmeleon retrieved their herbs and made their way back to the entrance. Now on the main street, the two fire types started heading to their next stop.

"So where's Scorcher? Why did we separate from him?" The Charmeleon asked.

"Scorcher went to the Battle Item Exchange. Said there was something he wanted to pick up from there while we're out shopping. Didn't specify what exactly but he said he'll meet us at the station. Come on." Wading through the streets a second time, the Blaziken led his friend into yet another building close to the one they were in before.

"The Gemstone Gallery? Now we're talking." The Charmeleon grinned. Both he and his partner inspected the glass casings that lined the walls of the store filled neatly with different colored gems. They were not like regular valuable gems, though. What these gems did was power up a move of a specific type. It only worked once but the boost in power was well worth it. "So what are we getting?"

The Blaziken lifted one of the lids, picking out brown, purple and orange gems, one of each and walked towards the counter managed by a Diggersby to pay for them. The exchange done, the Blaze Pokémon led his younger fire companion out of the building and down the street. This time taking a route that led to the eastern station. "Here."

The Charmeleon suddenly had a Dragon Gem shoved into his claws. Looking it over, he looked back at the remaining two gems in the Blaziken's grip. "So then that leaves you and Scorcher with the Fighting Gem and Fire Gem?"

"That's right."

"Wouldn't it be easier if I held onto the Fire-?"

"No it won't." The Blaze Pokémon stopped him right there. "You're the only one of us that can use dragon moves. Those can come in handy if we want to get the upper hand on our foes. Holding a Fire Gem won't do you any good in a battle against dragons."

"Then why did you buy a Fire Gem?"

"Because Scorcher really loves his flames." It was honest-to-Arceus as simple as that.

"I really can't argue with you there."

They continued walking like that, passing by other pokémon while engaging in conversations of different matters. From their good time in the Berry Juice Bar the previous night to even something as simple as what they had for breakfast and finally to the details of the job they had accepted not that long ago.

"What do you think dragons could possibly want from the Seismic Highland?" The Charmeleon asked.

"Can't say. Dragons don't usually need much provocation to starting ruining days. It's safe to say that diplomacy won't work and we'll end up having to fight them. You're not worried, are you?"

"Of course not. I may not be fully evolved but I'm tougher than I look." The Charmeleon punctuated his statement by flexing his claws. "Besides, it takes a dragon to defeat another dragon. That's just what I am."

"No, not really."

"You just gave me a Dragon Gem-"

"To power up your dragon 'moves.'"

"Well I'm close enough." The Flame Pokémon folded his arms stubbornly. "Still, though. A Salamence and a Hydreigon at once? And who knows what other wild pokémon we'll meet in the Seismic Highland on the way? The suck potential of this job is extremely high."

"Relax, Aiden. You've got Scorcher and I fighting with you. When we formed Team Blaze, we invited the possibility of these kind of jobs. It's like this for every guild and backing out won't leave a very good impression." The Blaziken said.

"I never said I was backing out but I'm gonna go ahead and say that I'm sure not many pokémon want to get into fights with dragon types, guild or otherwise. Maybe ice types but they're like on opposite ends of the map and I doubt they'd wanna go anywhere near a place called 'Volcanic Summit' anyway." Aiden commented as he and the Blaziken ascended a flight of brick stairs and onto a platform where other pokémon waited. Among those pokémon was their third and final teammate, Scorcher.

"Aiden. Jetstream. Took you guys long enough." The Infernape greeted them with a most carefree tone of voice, standing up straight with fingers laced lazily behind his flaming head.

"Pretty sure you only got here yourself." The Blaziken named Jetstream smirked and bumped fists with his partner.

"Sporting a new look there, Scorcher?" Aiden looked the fighting pokémon over.

"You like it? It's called an Assault Vest." The Infernape puffed out his chest a little, showing off the padded vest he wore around his torso. "This bad boy's gonna offer me increased protection from special attacks. I figured it'll be appropriate for a job like this... Goes with the flames too, that's a bonus." Scorcher gave a toothy grin. "So are we ready to go kick some draconian ass or what?"

"Definitely." Jetstream rubbed his fist in anticipation.

"You guys sure seem confident." Aiden watched as the Onix that would carry them to the South Gate of the Pokémon Settlement appeared around the bend with an accompanying rumbling sound and kicking up dust as it moved.

"What's wrong, Aiden? You scared?"

"That's what I said."

"I'm not scared!" Aiden said louder than he should have and got the attention of every other pokémon there. "Let's just go..." The Charmeleon was the first to climb on the platform fastened to the Onix's back.

"I didn't know your face could get any redder than it already is." Scorcher smirked as he leaned on the railing, right over the 'do not lean on the railing' sign.

Aiden just glared at him.

"Easy there, champ. Our enemies are the dragons that got too comfortable in the Seismic Highland, remember?" The Onix had started off and Infernape's flaming hair was now billowing in the wind.

"Speaking of, do we have everything we need?" Jetstream asked.

Both his allies looked through the bags fastened around their waists. After a little while of rummaging, they nodded affirmative.

"Got everything right here." Aiden spoke up.

"Just the essentials, really. Potions, Full Heals, all that stuff. Oh yeah and some Haban Berries too. You?"

"Pretty much the same thing. I purchased some Revival Herbs too just in case things go... South." Jetstream put it the best way he could.

"If we play our cards right, though, that shouldn't happen."

Aiden wasn't so sure, however. He had taken on a lot of jobs with his allies since his time of joining their guild but this is the first time he would be going up against dragons. Pokémon known for their brutality and resistance to many types, though not as extreme a case as steel types. Fire being one of the types it resisted which limited his attacking options. The thought that they would be engaging fully evolved ferocious dragons like this... It shook him a little. Both from fear and excitement. It was an odd feeling.

"You okay, Aiden?" Scorcher looked down at the youngest fire type.

"Yeah..." The Charmeleon raised his claws at the end of his arm and tightened them into a fist. "I'm fine."

"Not having second thoughts about the job are you? If you're uncertain, you can sit this one out and Scorcher and I-"

"No!" To suggest that he couldn't handle a battle no matter how difficult was the last thing any Charmeleon wanted to hear. "I'm not backing out of this. If I did, I wouldn't be a very good fire type or even a very supportive team member. You guys know I'm tough as nails so there's no need to worry about me. We're gonna see this job through the end just like we always do. Isn't that right?" The Charmeleon leveled them with a confident glare which was accompanied by the flame at the end of his tail growing a little larger in size.

"Now there's the Aiden I know." Jetstream smirked. "Thought we were losing you for a minute there."

"Hmph. Like I would ever wimp out of a fight." The Flame Pokémon crossed his arms and closed his eyes snobbishly.

The Onix finally started to slow down and pulled up next to the southern station. Some of the pokémon on his back got off at their stop while others remained and were joined by other pokémon looking to get a ride. Fully loaded, the Onix gave a mighty roar and sped down the half-pipe route towards the next station. Jetstream, Scorcher and Aiden descended down the flight of stairs and made their way to the Southern Gate. Few minutes passed with the only sounds being some of the pokémon around them and in time, they stopped and stood in front of the large gate flanked by a pair of Klinklang on either side. Already knowing who they were, the two steel type pokémon attatched themselves to the gear mechanisms beside them and raised the gate for the fire types, revealing the main route that would lead them to the Seismic Highland.

"Everyone ready?" Jetstream asked.

"Born ready." Scorcher replied, craning his neck and arm in a brief exercise.

"As if you have to ask." Aiden moved his bag so it rested on his back and dropped on all fours.

"Okay then... Let's do this!" The moment Jetstream finished speaking, all three fire types sprinted down the wide path at top speed, leaving nothing but dust behind them.

* * *

Fairy Realm

Gallant faced Intrepid from his side of the battle floor. From the time they had arrived, all the psychic types figured that since it was still early, they may as well blow some steam.

None of them had been quite ready for the revelations that had been laid on them this morning. It was bad enough that they looked like clueless fools, granted only to one pokémon but on the way to the Training Hold, Edge had decided to share with them some news he learned from the Alakazam back in the Guild Collaboration that really didn't help their mood any but to be fair, they're the ones that asked. Word was some pokémon named Darkrai had come out of whatever isolation it had apparently been in before and was free exploring who knows where... Fair enough. It's a free world, he supposed but according to their training instructor, it is a powerful legendary pokémon that involuntarily caused nightmares so hellish that it physically affected its victims just by being in the same area as them which isn't a very good thing at all. For this reason, he went on to say that the leader of the Psychic Realm, Cresselia, shared her fabled Lunar Wings, said to counteract Darkrai's power, with the populace of the Pokémon Settlement. Another thing they didn't know. It's like what next? Did Xerneas awaken in the little time they had been away from home? It was enough for Gallant to start questioning if living in the Fairy Realm kept him as safe as he was constantly told but pushed those selfish thoughts to the back of his mind. Perhaps the reason he and his friends are kept constricted in their realm is because of the clear dangers that the world was littered with, as they had been informed today. After all, he couldn't deny that if the Fairy Realm was not the paradise it was, they could have wasted away a long time ago. They had Xerneas and his life-giving power to thank for that. Still, though, he couldn't say he wasn't curious about what else happens out there.

"Ready, Gallant?" Intrepid called from a few meters ahead of him.

Pulled out of his thoughts, Gallant got into a battle stance and nodded. He was done putting unnecessary stress on himself. He needed an outlet.

From his position over to the side, Edge gave the signal for their battle to start.

Gallant and Intrepid wasted no time, sprinting toward each other and engaging in close quarters combat. Intrepid jumped up, drew his arm backwards and came down with an open palm, intending to blast his opponent with a psychic wave at point-blank range but Gallant crouched and used the momentum of his run to slide on the floor underneath the space Intrepid had left, causing his attack to miss and instead slam his open palm into the ground. From behind Intrepid, Gallant went for a psychic attack of his own but Intrepid quickly turned around and parried his arm upwards which caused his purple blast of energy to fire harmlessly to the ceiling. Still holding onto his opponent's arm, Intrepid thrust his free hand out and narrowly missed Gallant's chest who leaned to the side. Taking advantage his opening, Gallant grabbed his opponent's shoulder and brought his entire weight backwards, bringing Intrepid with him, placing his feet on his stomach and throwing him over himself and to the floor behind them. Quickly getting up, Gallant then went for another psychic attack, this time uninterrupted, aimed at his floored target.

Intrepid saw this and expelled psychic energy of his own right at the floor beneath him, the force causing him to shoot up into the air, avoiding Gallant's attack and retaliating with another long range attack. Unprepared for Intrepid's unorthodox maneuver, Gallant could only brace himself by crossing his arms in front of him, taking the attack directly which knocked him off his feet and caused him to land roughly on his back a few meters away.

"Getting soft, Gallant?" Intrepid taunted, refusing to give his friend time to recover and running up to where he had landed.

Quickly getting up, Gallant's horns suddenly lit up with a blinding flash that brightened the entire room and put strain on Intrepid's eyes. When his opponent stopped to cover his eyes from the overbearing light, Gallant used that opening to run up to his opponent, going low and whipping out with one of his legs.

Intrepid cried out when his legs were struck, losing his balance and dropping to the ground from the force but quickly rolled out of the way and avoided Gallant's follow-up strike that slammed into the ground where he previously was. Grunting from exertion, Intrepid leaped up with a twirl and bared down on the opposing Kirlia with his arm reared back who met him halfway and threw out a fist of his own aimed at his head. Both blows connected at the same time, the young pokémon crying out and reeling from the pain but not yet done. Recovering, Intrepid thrust out his palm with great telekinetic force and Gallant swung his own arm out, parrying the strike and causing the attack to expel around them as a harmless purple waft of energy. Intrepid struck forward with his left palm this time and Gallant responded by grabbing his wrist with his right hand and wrenching it to the side, redirecting his opponent's attack to where it wouldn't cause him harm. With a flash, Gallant was gone, only to reappear behind his opponent and went for another sweep at Intrepid's legs. Said Kirlia, realizing that it would be difficult to avoid the attack from his position, chose to teleport as well, relocating to the side and delivering a drop kick to Gallant's chest, knocking him to the ground once again.

"I can keep this up all-" Intrepid couldn't finish his boast as he didn't expect Gallant to be tenacious enough to immediately teleport back up with no warning and drive his fist into his chin, sending him off his feet and to the floor.

"What was that?" Gallant smirked. "I can't hear you over your bruises."

"You're one to talk!" Getting back up Intrepid ran and jumped up towards Gallant with another drop kick.

Gallant was prepared this time around and raised his arm to fire a purple psychic wave at the airborne Kirlia. Smirking, Intrepid teleported back to the ground, the attack sailing harmlessly above him and commenced another attack, running up with his arm reared back and striking forward with all the force he could muster. To his surprise and everyone else watching, Gallant didn't try to dodge this time, allowing Intrepid to strike directly and painfully at his exposed chest.

Gallant winced as the psychic attack went right through his body which caused him to droop a little and made his legs quiver as they tried to keep him balanced. Sweet Xerneas, that hurt like hell but there was motive to his reckless behavior. Latching onto the arm that struck him with one hand, Gallant reached up and placed his free palm on Intrepid's body, over his twisted spoon. Looking down, Intrepid's eyes widened in realization of what his opponent was up to but was too late to stop it.

Gallant grinned up at his friend, drawing a great amount of energy from Intrepid's own twisted spoon to power himself up and unleashing a strong psychic blast of energy that blew the screaming Kirlia across the entire room, hitting the ground, rolling a little and coming to a stop near some training equipment. His opponent was no longer moving and that made him the winner of their battle, if the loud cheers of the pokémon gathered were anything to go by. Smiling, Gallant tried to take a step forward and he immediately regretted that, dropping to his knees in pain. Resistant to the psychic type or not, Intrepid's attack bloody hurt.

"You look like crap, Gallant." Valor spoke as he walked up to his injured friend. With the fight over, the other spectators went back to their own business.

"Imagine how Intrepid feels." Gallant watched as Edge, Resolute and Stalwart went to the out-cold Intrepid's aid. It was a good thing pokémon were built to take all kinds of damage from attacks, Gallant thought. If not, it would have been dangerous to engage in these kinds of activities on a regular basis.

"He'll be fine, we do this all the time." Valor put his friend's concerns to rest and crouched down to his level. Clasping his hands together, Valor closed his eyes and performed Heal Pulse, the rippling healing waves patching up Gallant's injuries nicely. After he was finished, Valor got back up and helped his friend do the same. "Better?"

"Much better, thanks." The Kirlia stretched out and felt as healthy as he did before his spar with Intrepid. Dusting himself off, Gallant started to walk to the exit of the Training Hold at the other end of the room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Valor asked, catching up to the leaving Kirlia.

"Food stand. I've got some shards leftover from our trip and I'm in the mood for poképuffs. You coming?"

Valor looked back at the rest of his peers. It looked like the now awake Intrepid was getting treatment just fine without him so he figured his presence was not really required and began to follow Gallant. He guessed he could train later and besides, who passes up a chance to eat? "Yeah, sure."

Walking up to the door, Gallant tapped on it a few times and waited. After a bit of commotion was heard from the other side, the door was unlocked and the Kirlia came face to face with a Klefki. "Greetings! You guys done with the violence?"

"For now, thank you." Gallant responded as he and Valor walked passed the steel type fairy and towards the last door that would lead them outside. "We'll see you maybe later today, Keychain."

"I should certainly hope so! Farewell for now!" The Klefki happily moved its body side to side in a motion that caused his keys to jingle.

Now outside, Gallant and Valor walked on the comfortably spongy grass to the closest food stand they could find. Facing his friend, Valor noticed that he had an expression of deep concentration. He noticed that Gallant displayed the same behavoir when they first arrived and in the Training Hold. He didn't have an opportunity to say anything then but now that it was just the two of them, he could finally prod his friend's brain. "Got something on your mind?"

"What makes you say that?" The Kirlia kept walking.

"Gallant, our species name is the 'Emotion Pokémon' and we aren't called that because emotions fly undetected over our heads. I can tell something's up with you now are we gonna talk about it or not?" Valor tried not to sound so pushy but his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Well since you asked so nicely." Gallant rolled his eyes. "I'm still thinking of all the stuff told to us today. Especially from that guy, Saber."

"The Sceptile?" Valor tapped his chin in remembrance. "Oh yeah. He told us that some legendary pokémon attacked the Tempest Peaks for no reason. What of it?"

"He also said that we live ignorant lives in a closed circle." Gallant reminded his friend. "Insulting as it was, he was right. I guess I just didn't feel comfortable with what he said is all. That whole guild system made me realize there's more to it out there than what we first thought. I mean sure this trip made me more savvy about the world but certainly not in a way I first expected. I didn't feel comfortable with what Edge said either." Gallant finally came up to a stand a Slurpuff had set up that sold all kinds of delicious confectioneries.

"That pokémon, Darkrai..." Valor stood next to his friend and paid for his own mint flavored poképuff. Waving in appreciation to the Slurpuff, the two resumed walking with no clear destination in mind.

"A legendary pokémon that causes physical harm through nightmares without even trying." The Kirlia bit into his colorful cupcake with a cute nom. It completely undermined the subject of their discussion.

"Scary or not, you have to admit that's a cool ability." Valor took a bite of his own poképuff.

"Cool as it is, that pokémon is out there and according to Edge, it doesn't even have to be in the realm to affect us." Gallant took another bite of his scrumptious treat, wondering just how wide an area the dark type could affect.

"Well when we wake up screaming in our beds we'll know we should be alarmed to its presence." Valor joked. "Seriously, though, I don't think this stuff should bother you so much."

"It doesn't." Valor scoffed at that. "Okay maybe it does but what can I say? It's a lot for me to take in. I'm a kid."

"I'm a kid too but you don't see me shaving years off my life with worry." Valor threw an arm around his friend's shoulders.

Looking at his fellow Kirlia, Gallant figured he was right. Saber's words, Edge's information on Darkrai and the Psychic Realm's precautions, it all shouldn't matter to him. It didn't affect him or his friends unless he directly made it his business which there was no real reason of doing. He still didn't like the idea of being forever in the dark but there was little he could do as things were. Perhaps an opportunity like one they had would open up in the future and he could get another more detailed look on the rest of the world. For now, though, all he could do was concentrate on his training and hope that the fire type guild they met would give it all they had to complete their mission and as a result, make it possible for them to come into possession of their long desired Dawn Stones.

Valor smiled as he received a positive feedback from his friend. It was good to know he was back in high spirits and no longer looking so serious. They both took final bites of their poképuffs and sighed in delight at the after-taste the cupcakes left in their mouths. "I don't know who first came up with the idea of poképuffs but I think I wanna marry them."

"Well you're in luck. I happen to know who that is and I'll be happy to tell the Stunfisk the good news." Gallant replied in jest before he and Valor shared a laugh.

"Gallant! You're back!"

Said pokémon looked to his side and saw Sylvia trotting excitedly up to them, followed closely by the blue Kirlia, Angel. Stopping right in front of them, Sylvia placed a ribbon under her chin and took on a thoughtful expression, eyeing them both intently. "Hmmm... You two are the funniest looking Gallade I've ever seen. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you're both still Kirlia."

"That's funny, Sylvia." Gallant dryly commented.

"Right?" The Sylveon jovially ignored the Emotion Pokémon's sarcasm. "My understanding was that the reason you went to the Pokémon Settlement in the first place was to get your hands on some Dawn Stones and evolve yet here you are standing the same as when you left. Were you robbed?"

Gallant and Valor fixed her with a deadpan look.

"Oh don't give me that." Sylvia dismissed their irritation. "It's only been a day but I'm sure you missed me."

Gallant ignored her and instead extended a greeting to the more reserved of the two girls. "Hey, Angel."

"Hi, Gallant. Welcome back." Angel clasped her hands behind her back and offered the male Kirlia a smile.

"Hey there." Valor offered a greeting of his own but his was instead met with a shy away and a barely audible 'hello.'

"Hey, Valor." Sylvia spoke up with a smile. "Don't mind Angel. She's... Well, Angel." The shiny Kirlia gave her friend an offended glare which went ignored. "So, did anything interesting happen on your big expedition?"

"Well-"

"Woah, hold it! Don't tell us here! Come on, let's grab some poképuffs and head on over to our spot. Then you can tell us all about it." Sylvia wrapped a ribbon around Gallant's arm and dragged him with her back to the food stand she was referring to without his consent. "We're borrowing him. I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all, go ahead." Valor replied, amused. He would have liked to continue their conversation but seeing his friend under the control of his lady friends brought him humor. Watching the Sylveon drag a perplexed Gallant off, he turned around and started making his way back to the Training Hold to see how the others were doing. Momentarily, he thought about what Gallant told them back at the Berry Juice Bar about his opposite gender friends which he now found hilarious in this kind of context. "'Trophy wives', he said. Jokes and marriage proposals or not, that guy is whipped." Valor chortled.

* * *

Secluded Clearing, a little while later.

Gallant stared at his friends from where he was seated and they regarded him with surprised expressions. He had just finished explaining everything that had happened from the moment his party had stepped into the Brilliant Meadow and was now at the point where he and his team members had just made their order for Dawn Stones. His friends had asked him amusing questions throughout his story like 'What's a bar' or 'What's a bunk bed' but he was happy to answer them. From their expressions, he could tell that the Pokémon Settlement was far more than what they expected it to be. To be fair, he never expected it to be the way it turned out either.

Between them was the fairly large, elevated flat rock that had quickly become their quasi meeting table. On the rock sat three, previously six poképuffs. A chocolate deluxe, a mint and a, um, pink one? He really didn't know what flavor the pink floral pattern poképuffs were supposed to be but it didn't matter. Even though he already had one before, Sylvia didn't mind buying him some more on top of the ones she bought for Angel and herself. Hey, never look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, right?

"So what happened after you got your business out-of-the-way? Sight seeing?" Sylvia picked her second poképuff off the rock and started to devour it.

"You can say that." Gallant picked up his own delectable cupcake as he recalled their activities. "Edge said we could look around the settlement and took us on a ride to other parts of the settlement on an Onix."

"An Onix?"

"A huge snake-like pokémon made entirely out of rocks. Like, huge! It was my first time seeing one too. It carried us and other pokémon around different parts of the settlement on its back, you would have loved it! It goes station to station, offering to give rides to pokémon too fatigued or otherwise unable to get around the settlement on foot, it was the whole thing and- oh yeah!" Gallant looked right at the quiet Angel who looked surprised at his sudden change in behavior. "From there, we went to the Postal Center and I was able to deliver your letter, Angel."

"Really? Thanks, Gallant." Angel gave him an appreciative smile. "Did anything else happen after that?"

"Yeah. Edge showed us this large building called the Guild Collaboration. It's a place where pokémon from all over the world form guilds. Guilds are groups of specific pokémon from different realms that get together and use their different skills or abilities to take on all kinds of jobs for other pokémon willing to hire them. They usually involve hard labor from what my friends and I saw. Some more extreme than others. There's this one that involved a Hydreigon and Salamence attacking the Seismic Highland. That area Redolence told us about that branches into the Ground and Rock Realms. It's known for its deposits of evolution stones and other minerals but until those dragons are taken care of, mining remains a difficult act there."

Sylvia looked at Angel, both wearing shocked expressions. They had heard that most dragons were battle hungry creatures but they didn't expect it to be at such an extent that they came out of their natural habitat and attack neighboring regions. "So those dragons are what's keeping evolution stones from being delivered to the Pokémon Settlement? Doesn't that mean your order will be delayed?" Angel asked.

"Yeah it does. But one of the guilds got the job and they seemed pretty confident." Gallant told them, remembering the fire types he couldn't identify but otherwise looked strong. "If they're as good as they looked then I can be rest assured. Since guilds have apparently been this for a long time, all I can do sit here and be confident that the problem would be taken care of." Gallant now directed his attention to his female counterpart. "Say, Angel. Do you have your book with you? The one with the legendary pokémon?"

Now that the subject had been changed to books, Angel smiled brightly and Gallant could feel it in her horns. Reaching into her bag that sat next to her, she pulled out the book the male Kirlia was referring to and placed it on top of the flat rock in front of him. "What exactly are you looking for?" She was already excited by implications alone. Did he see a legendary pokémon while on his trip? If so, why did it take him this long to say anything?

Gallant turned the book around so he could get a better read and opened it to the table of contents. "Let's see... Legendary Birds, Legendary Beasts, Golems, Eon Duo, Lake Guardians, ah-ha... These guys..." Gallant went on to open the page marked by the contents that would explain the pokémon he was looking for in detail.

Angel and Sylvia walked around the rock and sat next to their male friend so they could get a better look at what he was talking about. "The Forces of Nature?"

"An apt name, I'll give them that. But these two..." Gallant pointed specifically at Tornadus and Thundurus. "They attacked the Tempest Peaks a short while back. Just thought I'd share the news."

"What?" Both girls voiced their shock in unison. Should it really be so surprising, though? It said in their description that this is the kind of stuff they did in order to entertain themselves. Still, it wasn't fair to the pokémon that lived in that area to be subjected to an attack from reckless legendary pokémon.

"That's not all. There's something else I want you guys to know about." Taking another peek at the contents, Gallant turned the pages again before coming to a new entry. An entry that depicted a shadowy figure shaped like an hourglass with long arms that ended in threatening claws. Half its dark face was obscured by its wavy long white hair and all that was visible was a single blue eye that, even in the picture, seemed to be staring right at them. The Pitch-Black Pokémon: Darkrai.

Angel and Sylvia looked at each other. They had not yet gone over this entry, themselves and they didn't have an idea about why Gallant seemed curious about it or how he even came to know about it before they did. The page gave a detailed summary of what kind of pokémon Darkrai was and listed its various abilities but out of all of them, one in particular stood out. It's Bad Dreams ability. Reported to inflict unbearable nightmares in pokémon unfortunate enough to end up too close to it and the real reason Darkrai chose to live in isolation.

"Edge met someone he knew while we were in the Pokémon Settlement and according to him, this pokémon has been sighted enough times to warrant action from the leader of the Psychic Realm, Cresselia, herself. She apparently shared her nightmare-warding Lunar Wings with residents of the settlement to keep tension at a minimum and-" Gallant suddenly stopped and looked at Angel who was rubbing her arms uncomfortably. She was no longer making eye contact with him as well and he could feel her deflated spirit in his horns. He could only wonder why. "You okay, Angel?"

The blue-haired Kirlia looked up at Gallant with concern but refrained from speaking. This nightmare-inducing dark type legendary pokémon surely couldn't be the cause of the awful dream she had the previous day... Could it? Her friend just said it was roaming the lands so it was a real possibility. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her and she didn't like that. She had just this morning started to get over her dream and write it off as a simple bad experience like Fleur de Lis said but there was now evidence in front of her that proved it wasn't a natural experience at all. If she acknowledged that this Darkrai was indeed the cause of her nightmare then she would also be acknowledging that it had been or still is close to the Fairy Realm.

Seeing Angel wasn't being responsive, Gallant looked to the fairy type Eeveelution for an explanation. Sylvia looked at Angel and back to Gallant, not sure how she could tackle the subject without making her friend feel worse than she already felt. Sighing, Sylvia figured she would just go for the straight forward approach, there wasn't any need for her to beat around the bush. Gallant wanted an answer and she had one. "Um... You see..." The Sylveon wrapped a comforting ribbon around her sulking friend. "Angel is upset because she had a really bad nightmare yesterday and now that you just told us that a nightmare-causing pokémon has been spotted and is freely running around... You see where this is going?"

It took a moment but Gallant's eyes started to widen ever so slightly.

"But it's probably all unrelated, right?" Sylvia gave a forced smile and she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than her friends. "Right, Gallant?"

Gallant joined Angel and looked down at the suddenly interesting grass in deep thought and took to tugging at his muscle band with concern. Awkwardly, Sylvia did the same, her ears drooping a little and pawing at the ground. They all knew what was happening here. There was no reason to hide or pretend. Darkrai was or still is close to their home. Or, Arceus forbid, actually in the realm itself somewhere, waiting for them to fall asleep. Scared children. That's what they now were and without an adult, this kind of news was not something they could easily stomach. What started as a cheerful conversation between the three friends ended in uncomfortable silence.

"Well, damn."

* * *

Seismic Highland - Afternoon

A great, expanding mountainous region. That's what the Seismic Highland was. Mountains to the left, mountains to the right, mountains everywhere. There were few areas with grass that grew above a foot and there were even fewer trees. The rough terrain made it difficult for most pokémon to travel and it was true for the fire types running through it, taking the most comfortable flat route they could find. That's not to say the route they took was actually flat, it was just more manageable than the rocky high hills around them. The Seismic Highland's name was actually non-indicative as all the seismic activity came from the many ground and rock types that lived underground or in caves with none of it being of natural occurrence. Whether it be tunnelling, defending turf or displaying dominance, earthquakes and other small tremors would be set off now and then. In extreme cases, some earthquakes can become so severe that it affects large parts of the region and changes the geography forever, though that rarely happened. It didn't matter to the fire types any as they were here for one thing and one thing only. Dragon hunting.

Jetstream, Scorcher and Aiden had slowed from their full-blown sprint and were traveling at a much more steady pace. It wouldn't do well for them to use up so much energy before they even met their marks.

"Where are these things anyway?" Aiden impatiently asked, running on all fours and leaping over a large rock. "Please tell me we don't have to scrounge every nook and cranny for these bastards?"

"I hope not. We'd be here all day if that was the case. Maybe all week." Jetstream answered from Aiden's left, his long and powerful legs being far from tired despite the distance they had traveled.

"Imagine if they actually left a long time ago. Now that would suck." Scorcher commented from his running position on the right.

"Can I suggest something then?" Aiden started to slow down. Noticing this, his teammates slowed to a stop as well.

"Got something in mind?" Jetstream stood with his arms folded.

"Yeah." The Charmeleon stood up straight and dusted his claws. "We've been running for what like an hour now? And we've made pretty much zero progress. Why not just direct the attention to us? Those things can fly. From the air it'll be easier for the dragons to find us before we find them if we make enough commotion."

"That could work... Okay, Aiden, how do you think we should go about this?" Scorcher asked expectantly.

"How about fire-breathing?" The Flame Pokémon rested an elbow upon his open palm and pointed upwards. "We all shoot our flames skyward. That kind of make-shift beacon should be enough to attract their attention no matter where they are, right? If they're the battle hungry pokémon we know they are, they wouldn't pass up a chance for a potential encounter."

Jetstream and Scorcher smirked. That was certainly a good plan and it was a reminder that the young fire type wasn't actually as young as he first appeared. Well he was but the point here was that he's mature for his age. Details. "Alright, Aiden. Let's try it."

The three fire types promptly walked closer to each other until they were separated by only a few feet. Nodding to one another, the three took deep breaths blasted massive pillars of blazing flames out of their mouths aimed at the sky. The flames combined into one massive super heated stream of fire that travelled a good one hundred meters above them. This went on for a little more than ten seconds before their lungs started to strain and they had to stop in order to inhale.

"You think that worked?" Scorcher asked as he got his breathing under control.

"Man, I hope so." Aiden took deep breaths.

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Let's catch our breath in the meantime." Jetsream suggested.

So they did. They waited and waited. And waited... And... Waited...

"Anything?" Aiden hopefully asked.

"It's been a minute, relax." The Blaziken informed from his seat on a rock.

"Yeah but we still have a whole lot of nothing." Aiden made an impatient noise. So much for maturity.

"I find it odd that your own idea has led you into boredom." Scorcher was on his back, arms behind his head and resting one leg over the other. "Just give it a little more time."

"Yeah, yeah..." Aiden kicked a small rock away from him. He didn't know how much more he could wait. He was just about to suggest they resume running around when he suddenly heard a roar that alerted him as well as the other two fire pokémon. "Now we're talking!" The Charmeleon gave a toothy grin and started looking around with thinly veiled excitement. Another roar, this one followed by the earth shaking under their feet before the ground erupted in a dramatic display that sent debris flying all over the place and out from the new hole came... An Onix.

"Laaaaaaaaaaaame!" Aiden complained.

"Hmmm..." Scorcher stared at the massive rock type for a little while and then went back to laying on the ground.

"You think it saw our flames from a distance and burrowed its way here?" Jetstream asked, not at all threatened by the large pokémon in front of him.

"Who cares, it's an Onix." Aiden wasn't even looking at it and was instead keeping an eye out for the dragon types they were after.

Noticing its prey weren't paying much attention to it, the Onix gave its loudest, most intimidating roar at them before initiating its attack and making a lunge at the Charmeleon. Oh, how they would pay for their insolence. Opening its large mouth, the rock snake closed in on the young fire type who decided enough was enough and channeled the steel type into its claws then used them to take a wide and painful swipe at the Onix's lower jaw, fracturing the left side of it and knocking it to the ground. Dazed, the rock type shook its head but wasn't yet ready for another attack. An attack that came from right underneath it. The ground erupted a second time from below it and the large Onix found itself caught in the mouth of an even larger Steelix. The Onix cried out in pain as the trapped part of its body became littered with cracks under the pressure until its comparatively weak stone structure gave out and shattered in half between the Steelix's strong jaws. Triumphant, the Iron Snake Pokémon let out a roar to the heavens that shook even the loose rocks and grass around them before leveling its scornful red eyes down at the fire types who were now on guard. Now that the violent act of natural selection was over, the three fire type pokémon were prepared to blast the steel type to hell with their scorching flames when the skies above them suddenly darkened and the clouds were split by an onslaught of flaming boulders that rained down on the area all four pokémon were occupying.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." Jetstream commented and his legs immediately got to work. "Everyone, scatter!"

Not needing to be told twice, the rest of his team kicked their limbs into high gear and ran in different directions to avoid the meteor shower that had been summoned to ensure them a painful demise. Aiden dropped on all fours and ran in zig-zag patterns, using the shadows of the giant boulders to discern where they would strike and how he would avoid them. Scorcher and Jetstream ran opposite ends from each other, using their high agility to expertly dodge the falling meteorites and even flip over the ones that fell right in front of them. Scorcher made a giant leap over a rock formation but, unfortunately, wasn't ready to find a steep slope on the other side of the rocks, causing him to roll almost all the way downhill but quickly regaining his footing and skidding to a halt at the bottom of the slope. He looked around. The Infernape appeared to be in a new area that was completely flat and had no grass or trees growing anywhere but instead little holes that decorated the ground.

"A Diglet nest?" Scrocher pondered to himself. That last attack must have scared them enough for them to flee deep underground and he couldn't really blame them. Looking up where he came from, he realized that he could easily scale the high slope and regroup with the rest of his team. As he prepared to do just that, the Steelix from before appeared at the top of the hill and barreled down the hill to the same level, passed the Infernape and gave a loud roar at its intended target while rotating the spikes that jutted out from parts of its body to look more intimidating. Scorcher just scoffed. The steel type looked no worse for wear from being struck by the Draco Meteor attack and that must have been the source of its confidence but he was not just a fire type, he was also a fighting type and if it's a fight the Iron Snake Pokémon wanted he was certainly going to give it one.

"Bring it on, ugly." Scorcher raised his hand and taunted the Steelix with a 'come on' motion.

The Steelix did just that, sweeping its tail around, kicking up dirt and striking out at the Infernape who easily jumped onto it while it was still in motion, ran up the entire length of the steel type's body and delivering a blazing flip kick aimed right at its head. The force of the attack was enough that the Steelix's upper body snapped backwards and Scorcher followed his attack up by driving a Fire Punch straight into its exposed lower jaw which caused it to slam onto its back in a dusty heap. It wasn't done, though, as it easily recovered and rose back up. Its jaw was blackened by the Infernape's fire attacks and there were two large dents in it but it was still willing to battle. The Steelix locked its red eyes with its opponent that stood in middle of the field. Growling, the Steelix begun to collect a swirling mass of pure energy in its mouth and, when it felt that it was more than enough, fired a destructive beam right at its target.

"Please." Scorcher drawled as he sprinted to the side and easily outran the Hyper Beam. The Steelix didn't let up, though, as it followed the Infernape's movements with its head, its perpetual beam of energy defacing the ground and leaving a deep trench wherever it passed in hopes that it would incinerate the elusive fire type but Scorcher was just too quick for it. When the Steelix finally ceased with its attack to recharge its lost energy, he commenced his own attack, pulling out the Fire Gem from his bag and then tossing his bag to the side so it wouldn't get damaged. Activating the glowing orange gem in his hand, Scorcher manipulated his primary type to cloak his entire body in flame before shooting forward like a rocket and leaving a resulting blazing trail behind him as well as a small crater where he once stood. Too fatigued to act, the steel type could do nothing but take the attack head-on and hope that it's body would be able to survive the blow. Heh, yeah right. Scorcher's attack was so powerful and his body temperature so high that he blew a smoldering hole right through the Steelix's midsection and it reacted by giving a loud pained cry then falling over, defeated.

"Flare Blitz." Scorcher informed from the where he landed behind the Steelix as its body dropped lifelessly to the ground. "Deal with it." Done, he tossed the now useless, dulled grey gem to the ground and walked around the steel type's corpse to where he had tossed his bag. After securely fastening his bag around his waist, he ran back towards the slope while simultaneously reaching in and pulling out a Sitrus Berry, swallowing it whole to recover the energy he lost from his previous double-edged attack. He could already hear explosions and see rampant flames from the other side of the rock formation at the top of the hill and hurried his pace to aid his allies.

* * *

Aiden gave a guttural grow, baring his fangs at his mark. The Hydreigon in front of him certainly knew how to make an entrance. What with attempting to kill him and his allies by dropping meteorites on them that were now scattered harmlessly around the terrain, resting in the craters they made when they struck the surface. He was on all four of his limbs again in a primal stance, his claws digging into the ground. His flame tipped tail waved side to side in anticipation. When his team first took the job, he was excited at the prospect of fighting a dragon type for the very first time but now that there was an extremely violent three-headed dragon in front of him, it became clear to him just how dangerous the job actually was. This guy and the Salamence, wherever it was, were the reason that the ground types couldn't do as much mining as they wanted to and there was obviously a good reason for that. He didn't know the full extent of the Brutal Pokémon's power but he could tell that this is a foe unlike the ones he faced in the past.

"What's the matter, lizard? Do I frighten you?" The Hydreigon taunted.

Aiden glared at the dark dragon. According a few sources, 'Lizard' was a hateful slur dragons directed at each other. It's a demeaning term that implied one was too pathetic and small to stand up to another. Being the prideful pokémon they were, it was easy to see why it was such a big insult. Looking around, he didn't see Jetstream or Scorcher anywhere so it was just him and his much larger opponent. A direct hit from it would be pretty bad but if he was faster, he could work around that problem.

Levitating on its six wings, it came as a surprise to the Hydreigon when the Charmeleon in front of it was enveloped in a draconian aura. It recognized the move as Dragon Dance and all three of its heads roared in preparation at the idea of fighting a foe that could actually make it break a sweat.

From where he was standing, Aiden continued to power himself up, the fierce dragon aura stimulating the muscles in his body and making him faster as well as stronger. Looking up, he growled at the opposing dragon as a challenge to which it gladly accepted. The Charmeleon ran at the Hydreigon at high speeds, jumping up with his claws reared back and swinging them at the Hydreigon which responded by biting down on Aiden's extended arm with one of its heads and tossing the fire type down to the ground right in front of it. Inhaling, the Brutal Pokémon expelled from its main head a pulsing shockwave that pulverized the ground in front of it and would have certainly caused serious damage to the fire type had he not utilized his increased speed to dodge backwards in time.

Just before Aiden could attack again, the Hydreigon flapped its wings and blew dust at him, causing him to cough and cover his eyes. The Hydreigon took advantage of Aiden's temporary blind state and flew at him from a low altitude before giving him a back-hand (or back-head) that sent the fire type tumbling a few meters back and hitting into a rock. Getting up on shaky legs, Aiden coughed a little and held his aching side. Looking at his opponent, his eyes widened and he performed a diving roll, narrowly avoiding the Dragon Pulse that reduced the rock he landed against to rubble. The young fire type wasn't given any time to breathe as the ground beneath him started to get unnaturally hot. Moving fast, Aiden instinctively jumped to his right just as a pillar of earthly force erupted from the spot he had just been and continued to run as fast as his limbs could allow in order to evade the rest of the similar attacks that exploded dangerously close behind him.

The Hydreigon continued to relentlessly attack the fire type using Earth Power over and over, curious to know how much his target could take. When Aiden realized the dragon type settled with bombarding him with the same attack, he figured he might as well let rip with some attacks of his own while on the move. They might not be that accurate with him running like this but anything would be enough in this position. Taking a deep breath, Aiden fired volleys of fireballs at the Hydreigon as he ran a circle around it. The Hydreigon reacted by ceasing its assault and casually dodging to the side, raising its secondary heads and firing some flaming projectiles of its own that knocked Aiden's out of the air with the rest flying straight at him. Seeing this, Aiden stopped dead in his tracks snarled at the incoming fireballs.

"How's this then?" Aiden briefly craned his head back and spat a fireball larger than even his foe that spun momentarily before taking on a star shape and cruising at the Hydreigon, swallowing the flames that were aimed at him in the process.

The Hydreigon's eyes blinked in surprise and it crossed it arms over its face at the last second, not expecting the Charmeleon to be capable of such a powerful attack. The Fire Blast hit and the dragon was engulfed in a huge explosion that also charred a good deal of the terrain around it. When the smoke cleared, the Hydreigon lowered its arms and glared at the fire type with an epic fury in its red eyes. The parts of its body it couldn't protect were covered with burn marks and there were flames on the ground around it that continued to burn down what the initial attack couldn't.

"What's wrong, lizard? Can't take a hit?" Aiden smirked.

The savage dragon gave a roar so strong that it knocked the overconfident fire type off his feet and extinguished any flames in front of it. No longer playing around, the Hydreigon flew as fast as it could at the floored Charmeleon and was ready to rip him apart. Fortunately, Aiden was able to halt himself by digging his claws into the dirt and hastily ducked low, avoiding the Crunch the Brutal Pokémon used to try and bite his head off then dug his claws into its tail as it flew over him. Grunting from great effort, Aiden yanked at the dark type's captured tail as hard as he could, using it to swing the dragon round and around, eventually building enough momentum to send it flying at one of the meteorites it summoned. Slamming into the boulder with its back, the Hydreigon cried out from the abuse and the force of Aiden's throw was enough for it to leave a deep crack on the surface.

Aiden panted. He dropped to one knee and placed an arm on the other. He looked up at the dragon as it picked itself up from the ground. Its black sclera and red irises just screamed malice and if it could look any angrier, Aiden would have been honestly surprised. Flapping its black wings, The Hydreigon floated a little into the air and gave a feral roar upwards. A moment later and the sky darkened, a new shower of meteorites falling towards their battlefield while the Hydreigon fixed him with a most spiteful look.

"Yeah? Well I'm not done either!" Aiden bared his claws and ran directly at the Hydreigon, observing that the meteors only dropped around his opponent and not actually close to it. If he could get within striking distance, he was golden. He continued to run, dodging the free-falling flaming boulders around him to the best of his abilities and establishing that the Dragon Dance he used before wasn't just for show. The Hydreigon saw this and decided to put pressure on its opponent by firing off another attack. Aiden saw the dragon fire a red ball of energy that was coming right at him and his reflexes went straight to work. He skid to a halt and then made a break for it to the left, avoiding the first blast that exploded in a fiery fashion against a meteor that had landed behind him. Noticing the shadow of another meteorite, Aiden stopped dead in his tracks, letting the giant boulder drop ahead of him and crossed his arms in front of his face to protect himself from the shockwave it caused when it impacted the earth. Right after the burning rock had landed, the Hydreigon's second projectile hit into it and froze it solid. Aiden continued his pursuit, jumping over the harmless boulder and getting ever closer to his mark. The final projectile was coming right at him and this time, there was nothing to hide behind. Tapping into all he had, Aiden defiantly continued his charge against his foe and reached into his bag, pulling out the Dragon Gem he was given while simultaneously spitting a stream of fire at the yellow ball of energy.

The Hydreigon watched from its perspective as its target's flames met the third projectile of its Tri Attack, the both of them exploding in a combination of smoke, flames and electricity. Just to be sure, the Brutal Pokémon prepared to fire one last Dragon Pulse when out of the smoke emerged the Charmeleon covered in a bursting aura, wearing a furious expression and determined to bring it down.

The rage-fueled Aiden kicked things off by clenching his claws into fists, striking his opponent's jaw with an uppercut which caused the dragon's head to snap back and launch its attack into the air. The Charmeleon then drove his other fist into the dark type's stomach and sent it flying back to the ground where it landed hard enough to kick up dirt and rocks around it. Aiden wasn't finished, falling back down himself with a fist reared back aimed at the grounded Hydreigon. Aiden's opponent roared unyieldingly at him, getting up and flapping its wings forwards which propelled it backwards out of reach of his attack that wrecked the spot where he landed. Still not giving up, the Flame Pokémon pursued his foe with zig-zagging maneuvers, throwing its timing off then jumped up with a spinning motion, catching it right in its chest with his claws and sending it flying into a lone tree that snapped in half and sent splinters everywhere. Absolutely refusing to give in, the Hydreigon recovered and breathed an intense blast of draconian energy that incinerated the falling tree in front of it but missed his opponent that was quick on his feet. Sprinting head-on at his foe, Aiden made to attack one last time before his state of Outrage diminished. The Hydreigon wrapped its arms around itself and coated its body in a dark aura before swinging its arms outwards and sending a ring of pure darkness outwards in a large radius that killed what little plant life their battlefield was left with. Seeing this, Aiden's realized that his only route of escape from such an attack was the air so up he jumped, his legs launching him some few meters skyward, directly over his opponent.

The Hydreigon gave a cruel smirk. With his opponent in the air like this, there was no way he would be able to dodge and with this knowledge, it inhaled deeply and fired a charged Dragon Pulse aimed right at the Charmeleon. Smirking himself, Aiden twisted his head and breathed fire off to the side, the recoil of his attack propelling him out of range of his opponent's. With its head still aimed skyward, the Hydreigon clearly did not expect the fire type to pull such a maneuver if the shock on its face was any indication and that moment of hesitation was all he needed. Touching down on the ground, Aiden pulled his fist back and all the bursting draconic energy flowing from his body went straight into it before unleashing it all in a single explosive haymaker to the Hydreigon's side that sent it careening through their battlefield. The Hydreigon continued to tumble aggressively like a skipping stone on water before slamming into a large rock and leaving a huge indentation in it. The dragon's eyes were wide, its body aching all over as it felt itself slowly fall to the ground.

Aiden didn't even have time to relish his victory as his fatigue finally caught up to him. His vision was blurred and he fought to stand straight, taking clumsy steps as if he was drunk. He dropped to his claws and knees, fighting to stay awake and chanced a look forward where his defeated opponent was... Getting back up? This is bad. This is really bad. He didn't have the energy to keep fighting but he got back up anyway. He watched the Hydreigon float imposingly towards him. It was but a black and blue blur in his hazy vision and he shook his head in order to regain his bearings but no such luck. The dragon was now a few steps in front of him and he could hear its rapid breathing.

"I'm..." Aiden took a staggered step forward. "I'm not done yet either." Aiden tiredly took a swipe at the air and promptly fell flat on his face.

The Hydreigon snorted. Indeed this little lizard had put up quite an unexpected fight but it was only prolonging the inevitable. Its time was now at an end. Raising one of its secondary heads, the dragon took careful aim at the Charmeleon and readied the attack that would take its life.

"Heads up!" The Hydreigon looked to the side at the source of the voice and its face met the business end of an Infernape's foot that forced it to the ground. Again, it got back up and faced the new threat while rubbing the sore side of its face. It glared at Scorcher who stood with a hand on his hip and wearing a cocky smile on his face. Seething with rage, the Hydreigon attacked the Infernape but the fire type was faster, giving a quick jab to its face, driving a knee to its stomach that it exposed when it covered its face, an elbow to the top of its head when it wrapped its arms around its abused stomach and finished with a spinning back kick to its chest that sent it flying. It was out cold before it hit the ground.

Scorcher stared at the defeated dragon for a moment before switching his gaze down at his ally who had exhausted himself and was sleeping soundly right there on the floor. Walking forward, he picked up the Charmeleon and hoisted him over his shoulder. He looked pretty roughed up but so did his opponent. Scorcher had watched the last leg of the battle and he was quite impressed with the way Aiden handled himself considering that this was the very first time he ever fought a dragon. 'Tough as nails,' indeed.

"Well, that's one down." Scorcher commented, looking up at where he could hear another battle taking place. "Waiting on you, Jetstream."

* * *

Jetstream used Protect, encasing himself in an impenetrable barrier as the Salamence attempted run him down with a Dragon Claw, its sharp claws sending sparks into the air when they scraped against his projected shield. He locked eyes with his opponent who stared daggers back at him. What started as a simple hunt escalated into a fierce rivalry. He didn't think he would ended up hating this pokémon as much as he did. He was surprised when she first spoke, something wild pokémon rarely did. His next surprise came when she gave him her name; Calamity. Seeing as he could properly communicate with her, his first action was to demand what the meaning of the dragon's assault on the Seismic Highland was. Her motive for attacking the the land of the ground types was simple. 'The thrill of battle,' she said. She and the Hydreigon came from the Dragon Realm looking to do battle with as many powerful opponents as they could and according to her, they had done this before in the Volcanic Summit before they moved on to the next area. They were dragons. Prideful creatures that lived for battle and to her, that reason was justifiable enough to seek out opponents wherever they may be. Jetstream didn't agree, going on to insult the Salamence by implying that such actions made her a weak pokémon, the weakest dragon in fact, who could only win battles by taking advantage of weaker pokémon. Naturally, the Dragon Pokémon took an immediate disliking of the Blaze Pokémon which led to their clash.

The barrier that Jetstream projected around himself started to vanish but that was fine as it gave him more than enough time for his ability to activate. The Salamence took another dangerous swipe at his neck and he used his increased speed to step out of harm's way before retaliating with a rising knee to its chin, using the same motion to bring his other leg around in an axe kick that shattered the ground when the dragon dodged backwards. Calamity barely registered the ineffective strike but Jetstream thought she looked funny with a scorch mark on her face even from this distance.

"Too fast for you?"

"Not in the least!" Calamity spread her wings, tensing her muscles and summoning a raging aura around her as she performed Dragon Dance. Ready to continue, the Salamence flew at her opponent with alarming speed and power, digging her right claw into the ground and tracing a gash as she went.

Jetstream ran at break-neck speeds and met her halfway, striking out with an inwards burning roundhouse that clashed with Calamity's Dragon Claw, the collision of their attacks sending a shockwave resonating through the area. With the same leg, the Blaziken gave a high kick that was caught between the Salamence's front legs who went on to swing him around and toss him at the closest boulder. Jetstream, being the experienced fire type he was, flipped mid-air, used the power in his legs to rebound off the rock and launched himself like a bullet back at the Salamence. Flames burst out of the Blaziken's wrists as he attempted a double Fire Punch but Calamity raised her front legs again and caught Jetstream's fists in her claws, causing the flames to extinguish around their joined limbs.

"There's no way you can use your lust for battle as an excuse to bring ruin to this land. Do you have any idea how many innocent pokémon your actions have affected?" Jetstream demanded. The both of them had their free limbs anchored to the ground, neither willing to let up.

"It matters not to me." Calamity roughly shoved the fire type backwards and fired a Dragon Pulse at him while he was imbalanced.

"It should!" Jetstream leaned his body back at an almost impossible angle, feeling the heat and power of the attack as it sailed over him. "The residents of the Ground Realm aren't able mine the deposits of their own land. This directly affects pokémon not just in the Pokémon Settlement but in other realms as well. How could you act so selfishly!?" The Blaziken punched at the air and, from his wrist, sent a Flamethrower at his foe who simply flapped her wings with enough force to nullify the attack.

"Selfishly? I simply act on instinct. Do you mean to condemn me for exhibiting my primal need to battle? A trait common with all pokémonkind?" Calamity flew high up and circled Jetstream, firing off her breath attack in rapid succession down at the Blaze Pokémon who continued to fire his own projectiles up at the gracefully soaring dragon. Using a combination of his speed and a series of back-flips, Jetstream easily avoided the dragon type's assault which tore up the terrain and was backed by loud booming sounds. Calamity, deciding to switch to physical, made a dive bomb at the Blaziken.

"You're wrong! I won't lie. Pokémon indeed do battle with each other but not to the standards you speak of. You're no more different than a wild specimen!" Jetstream's body glowed red as his Speed Boost ability activated again. Calamity blinked in surprise when the Blaziken that was just in front of her vanished in an instant just as she stomped down on the spot he had just been standing on, leaving a small crater in the ground under her weight. Jetstream's speed at this point was so high that Calamity found herself unable to keep up anymore. Hearing a slight tremor that got louder by the second, the Salamence fled back into the sky just as incredibly sharp stalagmites jutted out of the ground where she was once standing.

Calamity continued to fly higher still, making sure the Blaziken would not be able to reach her at this new altitude. Looking around the mountainous region, the Salamence tried to pinpoint the location of her opponent, confident that he would not be able harm her while this high up. Turning around, her confidence level dropped when Jetstream, now airborne as well, rocketed at her and was moving faster than she herself could. The Blaze Pokémon was now a red blur. Getting closer to his mark by the second, he extended his arm right at his opponent's jaw in a crushing Sky Uppercut that knocked her head back then went on to wrap his leg's around the dragon's exposed neck, pivoting his body backwards and flung her back towards the ground like a catapult. Just before hitting solid ground, Calamity beat her wings down and slowed her decent inches from the surface then propelled herself back just in time as Jetsream's fist slammed into the ground, sending debris all around him. Calamity whipped her tail around at the Blaziken but, again, he was too fast and was only getting faster. Jetstream easily dodged back, lifted his leg and brought it down on the Salamence's tail. Calamity roared, her hatred for the fire type growing by the second and she rapidly flapped her wings which kicked up a cloud of dust that forced Jetstream to retreat to a more open area.

Jetstream watched the as the cloud of dust that was concealing his opponent was blown away by a ferocious draconic aura that overflowed from her body and made his feathers ruffle from the force alone. He narrowed his eyes at his mark and she looked back at him with sheer contempt. He never thought he would end up hating a pokémon as much as he did now. The dragon in front of him went against everything a guild stood for. Things were already bad enough with the spontaneous attacks from both wild and legendary pokémon but the fact that a member of a realm with the right mind would so willingly attack other lands... It was inexcusable. Unheard of even and it was with that mentality that Jetstream continued his tireless charge, advancing forward and leaving an after-image behind him.

Calamity roared and flew at high speeds towards the fast approaching Blaziken. A blue blur met a red one at various points on the battlefield, sending booming shockwaves wherever their attacks met. They were going a mile a minute, Calamity's sharp claws clashing violently with Jetstream's strong talons which sent more sparks and flicks of flame into the air. The Blaziken's footwork was unparalleled, occasionally shifting from leg to leg as he met the Salamence's relentless strikes with his own.

"Having a different attitude from me does not assert yourself from what you really are! A pokémon! A monster that lives for battle! It should not matter to either of us what our opinions are! Look at yourself! If you did not live for battle... You would not be here this day!" Calamity withdrew, stomped her entire weight into the ground and cast Stone Edge, the sharp stalagmites erupting from the earth and chasing down the Blaziken in while trying to impale him.

"Bullshit!" Jetstream disputed as he easily outran the attack born from the Salamence's fury. "I'm nothing like you. The reason I'm here is because unlike you, I have something worth fighting for. Had you not so arrogantly attacked this land, we would not be having this pointless battle!" The Blaziken made a Beedrill line for his opponent, zipping right through the gaps that separated the giant earth spikes. Close, Jetstream redirected his attack on the Salamence and in a flash, he was gone from her vision only to reappear to her left and deliver a hurricane Blaze Kick right in her ribs that sent her flying through the air before landing painfully on the ground.

"Spare me..." Calamity got right back up as the hard plate that covered the vitals of her body absorbed the blow. "A fight like this is always inevitable. You will meet more pokémon like me. Battles are always around the corner. Rampant legendaries, swarms of wild pokémon... You will never escape it. We battle until we die and I have long since embraced that fact. The weak die and the strong survive..." The Salamence began to channel new energy in her body. "That's just how the world works!" Calamity opened her mouth wide ejected a large volume of water that traveled at high velocity towards the Blaziken.

Jetstream's eyes widened with shock, not expecting his opponent to be carrying Hydro Pump. Thinking quickly, Jetstream thrust his burning fists forwards and launched an equally large stream of fire at the incoming torrent of water. Both attacks collided and cancelled each other out, resulting in a thick collection of steam that enveloped their battleground. Calamity searched all around her, squinting her eyes as she tried to make her opponent out in the suspended water droplets. Hearing a noise, she turned around and was forced to endure an excruciating flip kick that broke her jaw that sent her flying out of the mist and high into the air. Not yet finished, Jetstream jumped into the air himself above the Salamence and reached into his bag, pulling out his Fighting Gem. With the gem now backing the power of the fighting move of his choice and Jetstream's body glowing red in one last activation of Speed Boost, he unleashed his final attack. Crying out with a horizontal spin, Jetstream thrust his knee out against the Dragon Pokémon's chest with all the power his body would allow, knocking the wind out of her and sending both his opponent and himself falling to the ground like a comet. With cruel defiance, Calamity still continued to fight back during the free fall, using her claws to slash at the leg that was pressed against her chest. Jetstream winced as he took the abuse, his opponent's assault drawing his blood and leaving three nasty gashes in his skin. He endured it, though, forcing more or his weight against the dragon as they fell closer and closer to the earth before they finally impacted the surface. A collision that was so powerful that it caused the ground to crumble underneath them and further caused the biggest shockwave yet to blow through the entire area. When the dust cleared, it revealed a panting Jetstream, his knee was still on the Salamence's chest and the blood from his injury continued to drip down his leg. Calamity was unmoving but her chest rose and fell in rhythm, indicating that she was still alive. Not that the Blaze Pokémon's intention was to kill her. She was resident of the Dragon Realm. Despicable as she was, she had a place to call home and killing someone like her would leave a severe black mark on his conscience.

Sighing, Jetstream got off the defeated dragon and limped away from her body before settling on the ground to catch his breath. He placed one of his arms on a raised knee and leaned his forehead against it. He had fought dragons in the past as his own home was part of the Volcanic Summit but this was the first time he fought one that wasn't wild. The experience was something else to say the least and he hoped it would be a while before he had to fight another one.

When he felt a sudden breeze, he looked back up and saw a Hydreigon that was hovering above the Salamence's body. He jumped up, balancing on his good leg and met its gaze with his own. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it was wounded and guessed that it must have clashed with his teammates after they had separated. Even though the Hydreigon stared him down with a hostile glare, it did not attack him, instead using its right head to reach down and pick up its fellow dragon by the tail. The dark type glared at him with its red and black eyes for a few seconds more before taking to the skies and over the horizon. Jetstream sighed in relief put his raised leg back down but was careful not to put pressure on it.

"Looks like it's mission complete."

Jetstream looked to his right and watched as Scorcher walked up to him with Aiden draped over his shoulder. "Is he okay?" He asked out of concern for their young friend.

"He's fine. Just exhausted is all. You should have seen him in action. Bugger took on the Hydreigon all by himself for a good while before I intervened. He deserves a cookie or something." The Infernape looked down at Jetstream's leg. "That doesn't look good."

"I'll be fine." Jetstream reached into his bag, pulled out a Hyper Potion and gulped it all down, sighing in content at the end. "Say... What happened to the Steelix from before? Did it run when the dragons appeared?"

"Nah. It challenged me and I killed it." It was strange to hear him say such a thing so casually but he got used to his partner's mannerisms a long time ago.

The Blaziken looked around and saw all the devastation their battles had caused. Scorch marks, craters, fallen trees and the like dotted the field. What happened on the surface didn't affect the pokémon that lived underground, though, that was good. Since there was nothing left for them here, he and his partner started making their way back to the Pokémon Settlement to inform the Guild Masters of their completed job and claim their reward. He would also need to get his leg looked at and Aiden's own injuries would need to get treated as well. He still had the Revival Herbs he bought from the Herbal Store but he decided to just let Aiden rest. He thought about what the Dragon Pokémon had told him and hoped that the battles that took place in the Seismic Highland was not an event that would repeat itself. Then again, if Calamity or any other trouble makers misbehaved, he would be more than happy to beat some sense into them.

"You and Aiden look like hell. I guess I'm the only one of us here that knows how to properly battle." The Infernape boasted.

Without looking, Jetstream raised an arm and gave his friend a jab in the ribs hard enough to leave a bruise.

"What the hell!?" Scorcher demanded, rubbing his aching side.

"Oh no, you got injured. Looks like you'll be joining us in the infirmary."

"You suck!"

* * *

It was now night-time and the moon cast its gentle glow upon the slumbering Fairy Realm. The only sound that was heard in the silent home of the fairy types was the grass as it shifted under the gentle steps of the lone awake resident. The Emotion Pokémon stopped and stared at the wide entrance to his home. He was troubled. The day's stress had been enough that he found himself unable to sleep and that was the reason for his nightly stroll. Ever since he returned from his first trip outside his comfort zone, he had been curious about all the other possibilities the world had to offer, both good and bad. Stepping forward, the Kirlia got ready to take an extended walk when a familiar voice stopped him.

"Gallant?"

The psychic type turned around and met the gentle blue eyes of his friend, Sylvia.

"What are you doing?" She stared at him with her head tilted to one side and her eyes shone with an ethereal glow. How was it that she always knew where to find him?

"I can't sleep so I'm taking a walk."

Sylvia looked passed her friend down the path and back to him. "Going a little off track there, aren't you?"

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Gallant faced the entrance again.

"I sleep all the time."

"Doubtful." The Kirlia started walking down the path.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sylvia started following him.

"Brilliant Meadow."

"Really!?" Sylvia wore an incredulous expression. She was about to remind him that he was prohibited from leaving the realm without some sort of supervision but her curiosity got the better of her. "Can I... Can I come with?"

Gallant turned back around faced the Sylveon directly. "Do you want to?"

"Yes!" Sylvia enthusiastically answered but then calmed herself down a little. "I mean... If you don't mind?"

Gallant smiled at his friend and offered her his hand to take. "Come on."

The Intertwining Pokémon happily skipped up to the Kirlia and placed her paw in his hand. Both their bodies were covered in a bright light and before she knew it, she wound up in a different location entirely. Gallant had teleported them to the open path he and his fellow students had been led on during their trip to the Pokémon Settlement. Grass that grew taller than them went on as farther than their eyes could see and the expanding field was complemented by the beautiful healthy trees adorned with soft leaves that varied in shape and color.

"Wow..." The Sylveon commented as her eyes drank in the scenery around her. "Look at this place... I wish Angel was here to see this."

"I wonder how she's doing. Last we saw her, she looked really upset. I'd say even violated." Gallant replied, remembering Angel's sombre state.

"She's with her mom, Miss Sana. Your revealing of Darkrai messing with her head must have been heavy on her but I'm sure she'll be fine by tomorrow."

" It was a lot to take in, I'll admit but now that I think about it, I don't think there's anything for us to worry about."

"What do you mean?" Sylvia questioned, sitting down on the ground.

"Darkrai isn't anywhere near the Fairy Realm. Not anymore, anyway. I remember it now... The black figure I saw the night we arrived in the Pokémon Settlement. It was Darkrai." Gallant looked up at the starry night sky.

"You saw Darkrai? Are you sure?"

"Positive. There's no doubt about it. I could feel it in my horns. The burden of carrying an eternal darkness wherever you went... It's enough to drive anyone to depression. Madness even. It came from the same direction as us last night. I suppose Angel was just unlucky that she was asleep at the time. Darkrai may have affected other pokémon but all that's over now. At least I hope it is."

Sylvia didn't say anything this time, instead joining her friend in appreciating the brilliance of the heavens above them. Minutes continued to pass as they stared at the stars that elegantly twinkled in the darkened sky with the shining moon as their sole audience. Being night, it was unlikely that they would fall prey to wild pokémon so they had little to worry about. After a few more minutes passed, Sylvia finally decided to break the silence.

"So what exactly compelled you to come all the way out here anyway?"

"Well..." Gallant placed a thoughtful hand under his chin. "I guess you can say I got curious. When we first travelled through the Brilliant Meadow, none of us had the time to fully appreciate it and this is the only way I can get to do so. Or you could say that I jumped at the opportunity to misbehave, pick one." Gallant smirked like a cheeky brat.

Sylvia shook her head at her friend's foolishness. Gallant watched as the Sylveon yawned, revealing her sharp but cute fangs that were otherwise hidden.

"Getting tired?"

Sylvia looked at the Kirlia and nodded.

"So am I. Come on, let's head back home." Gallant offered her his hand again and she placed her paw on top of it.

"Hey, Gallant... Next time you feel like misbehaving, let's invite Angel. It's always fun when it's all three of us." Sylvia smiled.

"It's a promise." Gallant smiled back as he teleported his friend and himself back to the Fairy Realm.

* * *

Two near identical looking pokémon floated side by side as they looked at the third pokémon in front of them with deep concern. They were currently in a large rotunda that acted as a throne room. The circular room was framed with ornate pillars that seemed to have been carved with impeccable craftsmanship. The floor was decorated with marble tiles so clear that one could see the ceiling's reflection in them. Crystals in the shape of lotus flowers were hanging in the air supported by strong psychic power and they magnified the light cast by candles in them, giving the room a brilliant purple crystalline glow. Beyond the two pokémon, settled on top of a high perch was the leader of the Psychic Realm, Cresselia, though she didn't look as presentable as she could have hoped. Her body was a pale sickly pink and her wings were but a reminder of their former glory, having become faded from overuse of her powers.

"Latios. Latias." She spoke in a soft and angelic voice. Cresselia looked at her two most trusted pokémon. They had grown tired of seeing her selflessly sacrifice her power day by day for the sake of others and were ready to take matters into their own hands. Ever since Darkrai had come out of hiding, she had worked herself into a frenzy, creating Lunar Wings to protect as many pokémon as she could but even she needed to take time to rest. Legendary or not, she was still a pokémon like everyone else. All she could do now was put her faith in the most powerful fighters her realm had to offer. With the last few ounces of her power, Cresselia bestowed two new Lunar Wings that wrapped magically around the necks of the sibling dragons. "Stay safe." She offered them a smile of encouragement and fell into a deep slumber, no longer able to stay awake even if she tried.

"Lady Cresselia..." Latias' voice was filled with worry.

"You can only do so much, Lady Cresselia. Please, leave it to us. Rest assured, we will get to the bottom of things." Latios confidently stated. He nodded to his sister and the two left the throne room, determined to bring down the source of the legendary psychic type's plight.

* * *

END CHAPTER.


End file.
